


The World is Silent for Us

by awkwardsocialskills



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Clarke just wants to study, Clexa, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, No Angst, Quiet Lexa, Slow Burn, but Raven wants to party, exhausted clarke, kind of, like lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2018-10-14 12:52:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 35,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10536846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awkwardsocialskills/pseuds/awkwardsocialskills
Summary: Raven's mad that Octavia keeps ditching them for her new boyfriend. Clarke's tired of listening to them fighting. Lexa just wants to finish her paper.ORClexa college AU where they find a corner in the library to sit together and study until they want to do more than study.





	1. Chapter 1

Lexa was never much a people person. She liked to keep to herself, really only opening up to her family. They were the only ones she had every really trusted. And after an incident when she was eighteen, she had basically stopped talking. Every once in a while, she would speak. Only when she thought it was necessary or when she had the words and needed to express herself.

One of the few times she needed to express herself was when she found her girlfriend of almost two years cheating on her. Anya and Lincoln were there to pick up the pieces when matters became worse. And a few months after the betrayal, Lexa started to feel back to normal. Her distrust of people grew. Her use of words dissipated. She was nearly silent by the time she, Anya, and Lincoln got to college.

Now, she was in her third year, double majoring in business and marketing. She was top of her class and had a reputation with the faculty of being a silent genius. A reputation she was glad for because when it came to presentations or speech units, she was always exempt and had to write papers instead. Lexa didn't mind papers. They came easy to her. Most of them only took an hour or two to write after she'd done a day's worth of research.

That's what she was doing today. She was typing the last few sentences of her paper when she heard a commotion at the front of the library. She frowned at the noise and tried to focus on the last couple sentences of her conclusion, but the voices just got louder. The people were coming closer. From what Lexa could hear, there were three of them. Two were arguing- very loudly- and one was trying to get them to quiet down.

"Seriously, O. If you ditch up for him one more time-"

"It only happened once, Rae. Let it go. I'll be there."

"Um, excuse you. You have ditched me and Griff at least six times in the past month for that guy."

"That guy happens to be my boyfriend."

"You've barely been dating a month. Aren't you sick of each other?"

"We're in a relationship. We're not fuck buddies. Of course we're not sick of each other."

"What's the difference?"

The third voice groaned," You guys need to shut up. We're in a library. People are trying to get work done. And honestly, I'm tired of this conversation."

The first two protested immediately, talking over one another.

"Shut it, Griff."

"Deal with it, loser."

Then they started going off on each other again.

Lexa ground her teeth together and tried to focus on her paper. It felt useless not that she had lost her train of thought. She reread what she had and started to type out the rest of it when the chair to her left was pulled out. She frowned and looked up to see a pretty blonde girl sitting down.

"Mind if I sit here?" She asked.

Lexa's mouth went dry. She nodded, her eyes locked on two crystal blue pools.

"Sorry if my friends distracted you, by the way. They're...a bit much. In every situation."

Lexa just shrugged and nodded, showing that she understood.

"Anyway. I'll let you finish your work. Also, sorry for distracting you myself." The girl turned and started taking out her laptop, books, and a notebook. Lexa stared at her for a few seconds before shaking her head and turning back to her essay. It took far too long for her to get back into her work, and by the time she did, the girl next to her was already typing away at her own assignment.

The two of them worked in silence for over an hour. By then, Lexa had finished her work and was mindlessly scrolling through Tumblr. She was just about to leave when she realized the time, but she was interrupted by two voices.

"Come on, Griff. My brain is going to explode if I study anymore."

The blonde girl sighed and looked up," Raven, it's been an hour and a half. I know you're a genius, but you still need to do your readings and summaries."

"I already finished them."

"Raven."

"Come on, Griff! There's a party at the frat house tonight. We should be getting ready."

"I'm actually trying to get into med-school. Parties aren't exactly in that plan."

"One party won't kill you."

Another girl walked up. The first was pretty small with a tan, dark hair, and eyes to match. However, the second girl. She was even smaller than the first. She wasn't quite as tan but also had dark hair and stormy gray eyes.

"Seriously, Clarke. Just one party. Finn will be there."

The blonde- Clarke- rolled her eyes," I don't care if Finn will be there."

"Didn't you have a thing with him once?" The second girl asked.

But Clarke just shrugged," It was a one night thing. The sex wasn't even that great."

Both of her friends burst out laughing. Clarke smirked slightly and looked at her computer before frowning again.

"Fine. We'll go. But only because you two are being loud and probably interrupting her studying." Clarke nodded towards Lexa, who had been trying to pretend they weren't there.

"Why doesn't she come with?"

Lexa wasn't sure which one said it, but when those words registered in her head, she frowned and looked up in confusion.

"Guys-" Clarke started, but the first girl- Raven- waved her off and offered Lexa her hand.

"Raven Reyes, mechanic extraordinaire."

Lexa opened her mouth but no sound came out. Raven tilted her head but understood the problem and held out a pen with a small smile. Lexa smiled gratefully and wrote out of the corner of her notebook "Lexa Woods, business and marketing extraordinaire".

"Well, Lexa Woods. Think there's time in your busy study schedule for a party? Octavia's brother's in a frat, and they're throwing one tonight. They never get too crazy, if you're worried about that."

For a few moments, Lexa considered it, but she ended up shaking her head with a sad smile. She quickly jotted out that she had plans with her brother and cousin, but maybe would come to the next party.

"They can come with, if you want." The third girl, Lexa assumed this was Octavia, said.

"O, leave her alone. She doesn't to go. I've already agreed. Stop torturing her, and let's go." Clarke sighed.

"Fine. Come on, Rae." Octavia looped her arm through Raven's and practically skipped away, the latter protesting about the amount of bouncing that was occurring.

"Again, I'm sorry about them. They really don't have a filter."

Lexa just shrugged, still smiling at Clarke.

"If...if you really wanted to go to the next party, I can text you sometime. Let you know when that'll happen."

Just the thought of having Clarke's number made Lexa's heart jump, and she had no idea why. She had met Clarke two hours ago, and they really hadn't spoken to each other. Nevertheless, Lexa found herself nodding and holding out her phone. Clarke smiled and typed on her phone longer than Lexa would have expected.

When Clarke handed it back, she smiled," I just texted myself so I had your number too. I'll talk to you as soon as I find out when the next party is."

Lexa smiled softly and nodded.

"Come on, Griff! We need to get ready for the party!" Octavia called from the front of the library, earning several complaints from students and a scolding from the librarian.

Clarke sighed," I should go. See you soon."

With one last nod from Lexa, Clarke got up and left.

Lexa huffed and leaned back in her chair, still not sure what to make of the girl that just left. She never interacted with anyone that wasn't in her family. And she suddenly let Clarke talk to her. She had Lexa's number. No one had Lexa's number. No one ever needed it.

She was still thinking about Clarke and the unusual agreement she made about the party when she got home. Lexa was sharing an apartment off campus with Lincoln. Anya had moved in with her girlfriend of three years, but they still lived pretty close.

"You're home later than usual. Got lost on the way to the library?" Lincoln teased.

Lexa flipped him off and marched to her room. She left him laughing in the living room while she dropped her things in a corner of her room and changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"Any plans tonight?" Lincoln asked when she returned to the common area.

Lexa shrugged and shook her head.

"Anya's dragging me to a frat party. You should come."

She shook her head and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge.

"Please? She's going because her girlfriend's going, and I don't want to be stuck alone or with people I don't know."

Lexa sighed and looked at him in exasperation.

"I know you don't do parties, and you know I would never ask you to go. But I promised Anya, and I don't want to go alone. Plus, you've never been to a party before, and it would be good for you to go to just one while you're in school. I mean, it's a part of the college experience, right?"

Lexa sighed and grabbed her dry erase board. She was aware of Lincoln while she was writing, but she ignored him and continued to write.

_Linc, I know you want me to go, but I've had a weird day, and I don't know if I can handle a party. Like you said, I've never been to one before. I want to support you, and if I hadn't just had to interact with people, I would say yes and go get dressed. Maybe you can ask Ryder and Nyko to join you? They love parties. If you need anything, a ride home or whatever, text me. I'll come get you. But I just can't go, Linc. I'm sorry ___

__Lincoln read the note and frowned," You interacted with people today?"_ _

__Lexa huffed and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.__

____"That's big, Heda. You never interact with people. What happened?"_ _ _ _

____She took the board back and quickly wrote. _Nothing. A girl sat next to me in the library and her friends got bored with studying. They invited me to a party tonight, and I said I was busy but the girl texted herself from my phone so that she could text me to come to the next party _____ _ _

______"Seriously? A girl invited you to a party, and you said no?"_ _ _ _ _ _

_______We were supposed to have plans, Linc. It was movie night. ____ _ _ _ _ _

________"I know. I tried telling Anya, but she seemed dead set on going to this party with her girlfriend. I don't know what's so special about it."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Lexa just shrugged and turned on their PS4. Lincoln tried to convince her that going to the party with the girl was a good idea, but it fell on deaf ears. Eventually, Lincoln gave up and went to change. He asked her one more time if she wanted to go with them, and when she shook her head, he sighed and left for the party._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She spent the night binge watching Netflix. When her phone vibrated next to her, she thought it was Lincoln, asking her to pick him up. She was surprised to see that it was actually Clarke.________

Lexa tried to find some explanation as to why Clarke would message her now of all times, but she couldn't think of anything without opening her message. Her heart skipped a beat when she finally opened it.

 

Clarke G (11:48): Honestly wish you came tonight. Both of my friends ditched me to be with their SO

Lexa (11:51): If it makes you feel any better, I got ditched tonight as well

Clarke G (11:51): Well the night's young. Offer's still open to come to the party

Lexa (11:53): I don't know, Clarke. Parties aren't really my thing. I wouldn't even know what to wear. I've never been to one before

Clarke G (11:54): That's fair. I mean, I don't think you're missing much. I only come to parties because of my friends. I really just want to get my studies over with. Medschool is going to be hard enough without recovering from hangovers every other night

Lexa (11:55): I understand that. That's part of why I've never been to a party. But my family doesn't share my thought process. They're much more social than I am. Today was the most social I've been in 4 years

Clarke G (11:55): Really?

 

They spent most of the night texting, Lexa's Netflix binge forgotten. They talked until Clarke assured Lexa that she was home and going to bed. Just an hour before that, Lincoln had texted her to say that he was staying with his girlfriend, who happened to be at the party he went to. When Lexa got confirmation that everyone was safe in bed, she turned off the PS4 and went to her room, ready for bed herself.

She laid in bed, not able to explain why she was smiling at her ceiling. She closed her eyes, not bothering to try and erase it from her face. No one was there to see it anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

Lexa ended up talking to Clarke every day after that. They had found a certain comfort in each other, even in simple texts about their days. They didn't get too deep into their lives, but they steadily learned about each other. Favorite colors and favorite movies. Lexa learned about Clarke's favorite classes, and in turn, Clarke learned about Lexa's nerdy hobbies.

"Are you listening, Heda?"

Lexa blinked and looked up at Anya. They were supposed to be having a movie night to make up for Anya and Lincoln ditching her, but Lexa had gotten bored with the movie they were watching and decided to humor Clarke, who was complaining about homework.

"Are you texting that girl?" Anya frowned.

Lexa shrugged and tucked her phone under her thigh. She crossed her arms and shrunk down, pretending to pay attention to the movie.

"You know, it's not fair that Lincoln knows all about her, and I don't know anything."

With a frown, Lexa snatched her dry erase board off the coffee table.

_First of all, Lincoln in my twin brother. Of course he knows about her. Second of all, he was here for movie night when I got home, and you were not. Third, I don't know what he told you, but he doesn't even know her name. So you know just as much about her as he does._

Anya sighed as she read what Lexa was writing.

"That's another thing. Why haven't you told us her name? Are you trying to hide her from us?"

_Yes._

"I swear to God, Alexandria."

Lexa just shrugged and glanced back at the screen. Anya prodded for a few more minutes, trying to get Lexa to open up some more, but it was no use. She had just given up when Lincoln finally came out of his room, still looking at his phone.

"What did I miss?" He asked when he noticed Anya pouting on the couch.

Lexa shrugged, and Anya glared at her.

"Lexa won't tell us the name of the girl she's been texting all week."

"So? Let her keep her mystery girl to herself for a while. You'll tell us when you're ready, right?" Lincoln sat down on Lexa's other side.

She nodded, giving him a grateful look.

"See? So leave her alone, Anya. Let her socialize on her own." Lincoln grabbed a handful of popcorn out of the bowl on the coffee table.

"I hate you both. I don't know why I put up with either of you."

"Because we're your family, and you love us."

Anya grumbled under her breath and let it go.

*****

Clarke ignored the huffing and whining that was coming from behind her and kept walking. She needed to get homework done, and she knew that neither of her friends had done homework since the last time she had forced them to the library.

"Do you like torturing us, Griff? Because that's what this is. Torture." Raven said dramatically.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do enjoy torturing you. Thank you for asking." Clarke smiled sweetly.

Raven let out yet another huff while Octavia giggled next to her.

"Shut up, O. She's torturing you, too."

"Yeah, but it bothers you way more. I'm feeling pretty great about myself right now. I'm not nearly as miserable about studying as you." Octavia smirked.

"Studying is so boring though. I know all this stuff. Why do I have to read all those stupid articles anyway?" Raven groaned.

"Because your professors are supposed to be teaching you something, and the articles and summaries you need to do are supposed to help you with arguments and building on your basis of knowledge." Clarke said, almost exasperated.

"Yawn. I don't care about that stuff. I just want to get my degree and get my hands dirty. Writing papers and reading articles aren't going to help me in the field." Raven rolled her eyes.

Clarke was about to argue back when she heard someone shush them. She glanced around and realized they were in the library already.

"You two behave and get your damn work done. I have a neuroscience paper to write, and I don't have time to push it off and babysit you two." Clarke sent them pointed glares before turning around and walking to the back of the library like she did last time.

Clarke was shocked and almost relieved to see Lexa sitting in the same spot she had been just a week before. She bit her lip to hold back a smile and walked over to her new friend.

"Hey."

Lexa looked up, startled.

"Mind if I sit?"

Lexa shook her head, a small smile of her own on her lips.

A wide grin spread across Clarke's lips as she sat down and pulled out her laptop and neuroscience book. She flipped through her notes while her computer started up, trying to find the right lecture for her reading. Her laptop finally booted up by the time she found the lecture she was looking for. She opened up a word document and the assignment requirements and quickly started typing away.

For the life of her, Clarke kept her eyes on her notes and on her screen. She knew that if she looked anywhere else, she was going to end up staring at Lexa, who seemed to be typing twice as fast as Clarke. Clarke was almost tempted to glance over to see if she was just smashing random buttons, but she caught herself and forced her focus back onto the paper she was a third of the way through.

She managed to trudge through a good chunk of it before she stopped, rubbing her eyes. Her head was pounding. She knew it was because her contacts were dry because she hadn't switched them out for her new ones in a while, and her eyes were getting extremely irritated lately.

Eventually, Clarke sighed and sat back, looking at Lexa," Can you watch my stuff? My head is killing me. I'll be real quick."

Lexa frowned but nodded nonetheless. Clarke was aware of Lexa watching her as she grabbed her glasses out of her bag and walking to the nearest bathroom. She quickly took out her old contacts and slipped her glasses on her nose. Clarke hated wearing them in general, but in public was the worst. Her glasses weren't ugly, but she hated the feeling they gave her. She didn't like the slight pressure they put on her nose, and she didn't like feeling them just behind her ears. She hated when they fogged up if she came in out of the cold or if she started blushing too hard. Just all the little things piled up and made her hate the glasses as a whole.

When Clarke returned to the table, Lexa's head snapped up in concern. At least, it started as concern. When her eyes met Clarke's, her face turned red, and her jaw dropped slightly. Clarke ducked her head in embarrassment, feeling her cheeks warm up. She sat down, avoiding eye contact with Lexa. Clarke hadn't heard Lexa start typing again since she sat down. She saw a bit of movement out of the corner of her eye, but she tried hard to ignore it.

Until a piece of paper fluttered onto her hands.

_Are you okay??_

Clarke's eyes flickered up for half a second, blue eyes meeting green," Yeah. Thank you. I just hadn't changed my contacts in a while, so they were dry. It gives me headaches pretty easy."

Lexa nodded. She still looked concerned, but not nearly as bad as before. Clarke could have sworn that she saw some form of desire in Lexa's eyes. She sent Lexa a reassuring smile before returning to her paper. It was much harder to focus now, but she managed to get a rough first copy of her paper finished. Lexa had gone back to steadily typing away.

"Griff, can we go now?" Raven and Octavia all but materialized next to her.

"Are you wearing your glasses?" Octavia frowned.

"Dry contacts." Clarke muttered, leaning back in her chair.

"I'm dying of boredom, Clarke." Raven sighed.

"You just want to go get laid." Clarke rolled her eyes.

"Yes. Now I've finished all of that so called work and sat in my chair like a good girl for another hour so that you could have fun writing that stupid paper of yours. Can we go now?"

"Raven, you know you can leave without me, right? It's not like you're a dog on a leash. I'm not keeping you here. I'm just trying to keep you from flunking out because you refuse to do basic homework assigned to you."

"Yes, but if I don't stay, you'll think I just ditched my work in favor of sex, which I totally would do if you didn't make me feel so damn guilty for not doing my work."

Clarke sighed," Go home, Rae. We can hang out tomorrow or something when you've gotten all of this...frustration or whatever out of your system."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You too, O. I just want to read through this a couple more times before I call it a night. You guys really don't have to wait for me."

"We know, but are you sure you don't want to come with? You've spent way too much time on that paper already as it is." Octavia said in worry.

"I'll be fine. Being a pre-med student isn't supposed to be easy. Go home. I'll only be another fifteen minutes." Clarke waved them off.

Both girls hesitated before nodding and saying goodbye to both Clarke and Lexa. Lexa looked up in obvious shock, just as she had the week before.

"I think you're starting to grow on them, and they really haven't even talked to you." Clarke told her after her friends left.

Lexa frowned. Clarke wasn't sure if it was because she didn't want new friends or if it was just because she was confused.

"I'm sorry. They're harmless. They just like to have a good time, and they love making new friends. Sorry if they make you feel uncomfortable. I can't really control them." Clarke sighed.

Lexa just put a hand on her forearm and gave her a reassuring smile. Clarke just smiled back, gland that she didn't have to explain herself further.

"Hey, Lex? I was wondering...would you- do you want to make this a regular thing? Studying together, I mean. We can meet here once a week. Or more if you want. And just get our work done. It's nice to have someone to study with that actually studies."

For a couple seconds, Lexa seemed to be shocked. But she quickly shook herself out of it and nodded at Clarke.

"Great! Um...I...I was going to read this through but I honestly think my brain in fried. I'm probably going to go home and get some sleep. How about I text you about studying? Unless you're about to leave too."

Lexa nodded and started packing up her things. Clarke was overjoyed. She quickly shoved her stuff back in her bag and got to her feet. Lexa was right behind her. They walked outside together, Clarke blabbering away about how excited she was to study with her.

The two girls started walking together, getting a fair distance until Clarke realized that Lexa was about to continue forward. She hesitated and stopped at the corner of a street. Lexa stopped a couple feet away, looking at her curiously.

"My apartment is a couple blocks this way. So...I guess I'll text you later about studying?"

Lexa nodded.

"Great! Um...I'll talk to you later then."

Clarke smiled and hurried down the street.

*****

Lexa's head was swimming. For whatever reason, she had agreed to studying with Clarke every week, and she was looking forward to it.

"What are you grinning about?" Anya grumbled when she returned home.

_What are you doing in my apartment?_

Anya scowled at the board and sat back on the couch, glaring at Netflix. Lincoln looked between the two of them and shook his head, not wanting to get in the middle of it.

Lexa sighed and cleaned off her board.

_Sorry. Clarke and I decided we're going to study every week now._

Anya shot up straight after she read the message.

"Is that her name?"

Lexa nodded.

Anya looked from Lexa to Lincoln to the board and back to Lexa.

"Do...I...Lincoln, did you see? Mystery girl's name is _Clarke_."

Lincoln's eyes widened and looked between the two girls.

"Oh shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any and all mistakes you have found and will find in the future. I have no patience for editing, if I'm being honest. Also, sorry for the infrequency in updates. because there will not be an update schedule. It all depends on when I have time and motivation to write.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

_What's going on?_

Anya and Lincoln seemed to be having a silent conversation. Lexa glanced between the two for a solid two minutes before shoving her dry erase board in Anya's face. In turn, Anya blinked at the question and pulled out her phone, holding it up to her ear.

"Hey, babe? Do you want to join me and my cousins for movie night?"

Lexa stared Anya as she had the conversation.

"Yeah, please. Bring them along. The more the merrier. Plus, Lexa needs someone to talk to so it would just be the four of us all cuddled up together."

A scowl appeared on Lexa's face. She glanced over at Lincoln, who was fiddling with his phone.

"Alright. I'll text you the address. See you in 20."

_What the hell are you doing, Anya?_

"I think it's time you met my girlfriend. Don't you think it's weird that I've been dating her for three years and we moved in together, but you've never met her?" Anya said nonchalantly.

_Maybe a little, but our schedules never really meshed, I guess? So it's not that weird._

"It's pretty weird, Heda." Lincoln said.

Lexa rolled her eyes and went to her room to get changed. After a full day of classes and a full week of basically fighting with Anya, Lexa wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed with a book and some tea. But Anya would _literally_ kill her if she didn't make an appearance tonight. So Lexa put on some sweatpants from her soccer days and slipped into a loose, white v-neck shirt. And after a few minutes of stalling in her room, Lexa trudged to the bathroom to take out her contacts. That action alone made her think of earlier in the night with Clarke. Lexa smiled to herself and looked away from the mirror.

She shouldn't be smiling over something so stupid and small. Lexa barely even knew Clarke. Just because she hadn't expected to see Clarke in glasses- albeit, _really attractive_ glasses- doesn't mean she should lose her mind just thinking about them.

Lexa bent her head and took her time brushing her teeth. Maybe if she just watched one movie, she could go to bed right after. Make a quick escape.

She spit into the sink as she heard the front door open and voices ring through the apartment. Lexa sighed and rinsed out her mouth. She was just leaving the bathroom when she realized that she _knew_ those voices. Lexa all but ran back to the living room and stopped at the end of the hall.

Right in front of her was her brother, holding a small, dark haired girl. Her cousin was making out with another dark haired girl on her kitchen counter. And right there. In between the two couples. There was a blonde haired beauty awkwardly looking around so that she didn't feel like she was intruding. Her blue eyes were darting everywhere, trying to find something interesting to capture her attention.

Then her eyes landed on Lexa, and her jaw dropped slightly.

"Lexa?"

Her two friends were pulled out of their states of bliss at the sound of Clarke's voice.

"Wait. Lexa Woods. As in _your_ Lexa Woods?" Raven looked at Anya.

"You two have met before?" Anya said in shock.

"Sort of. We met last week. Introduced ourselves and everything. I just didn't make the connection right away. I was tired from studying and trying to get Clarke to go to the party."

Clarke rolled her eyes," You weren't even studying, Rae. You don't study."

"Details." Raven waved her off.

Clarke walked from her spot between the couples over to where Lexa was standing. Raven and Anya went back to making out. Lincoln and Octavia had barely spared a glance at the reunion before they were lost in each other again.

"So Anya's your cousin? Does that mean your Lincoln's mysterious twin sister?"

Lexa shot her a guilty smile and nodded.

"So you're the one I've heard so many stories about."

With a curious glance at Clarke, Lexa grabbed her board.

_What kind of stories?_

"I think that's for me to know and for you to slowly find out." Clarke grinned.

_No fair!!_

Clarke laughed at the pout Lexa arranged on her face.

"No matter how cute you make yourself, I'm not telling you. Just gonna have to find out yourself, _Commander_."

Lexa's eyes widened when she heard her childhood nickname. She let her head fall backward, and a groan escaped her lips. Clarke giggled at her reaction and pulled her over to the couch. They had just sat down when Anya decided that it was time for them all to watch a movie.

Somehow, Octavia convinced everyone to watch The Notebook. Lexa had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with Lincoln taking her side. Lincoln was an unnaturally good negotiator. Something he never took advantage of. At least, not for anything big. Just movie preferences and dinner choices. Occasionally using his words to get his classes out of homework or massive projects with no partners.

That's how Lexa ended up red in the face two hours later with Clarke sniffling next to her on the couch. Raven and Anya had gotten bored and went home. Lincoln and Octavia were getting handsy on the love seat next to the couch. Clarke was leaning into Lexa's side, just enough for people to think they were close friends. Lexa, however, couldn't stop thinking about how she should be comforting Clarke. With an arm around the shoulder or holding her hand. Even a hand on her arm? She didn't know what to do, and she didn't want to move because Clarke was kind of using her to sit up.

"Why are we watching this again?" Clarke whimpered softly.

Lexa shrugged with one shoulder and shook her head.

"I don't know if I can watch the end."

Lexa uncapped her marker. _Do you want to go to my room instead? Leave those two to do...whatever they're about to do?_

Clarke wiped her eyes and looked up at Lexa," Are you sure? I don't want to impose. I can always just go home."

_I'm sure. I happen to enjoy your company._

"Okay. Let's do that then."

Lexa smiled and led Clarke down the hall to her room. Clarke was still sniffling slightly when she went in and looked around the room, taking in everything she saw. Lexa closed the door and watched her paused at the picture of her and her parents. Clarke hesitated but moved on to look at the next thing. Lexa moved to her bed and opened her laptop so she could open Netflix. After a couple seconds, Clarke sat down next to her.

"Is it okay if we don't watch sad romance? Or drama? I don't think I can handle any more of that after The Notebook."

Lexa smiled and nodded. She scrolled through the Netflix categories and helped Clarke decide what they were going to watch. They ended up watching Parks and Recreation. Lexa had never seen it, but Clarke said she had seen the whole series at least twice.

"This is honestly one of my favorite series _ever_." Clarke said, curling up close to Lexa.

Lexa smiled and turned her attention to her laptop.

Two hours later, Clarke and Lexa were both dozing off. Lexa was trying to keep her eyes open. She was enjoying this show, and she didn't want to miss any of it, even if it just took the press of a button to get back to where she was last.

Clarke's head fell a bit, landing on Lexa's shoulder. Lexa's eyes shot open, and she didn't feel quite so tired anymore. Clarke also woke up a bit when her head hit Lexa's shoulder.

"I should get home. I don't want to fall asleep on you." She muttered.

Lexa wanted to say that she could stay over, but she thought better of it. She barely knew Clarke. They hadn't even had a full conversation yet, always getting interrupted by their friends. So when Clarke sat up and rubbed her eyes, Lexa paused the show and shut her laptop. Both girls struggled to their feet and walked out into the living room. There was no sign of Lincoln and Octavia, but Octavia's shoes were still next to the door, so the girls had an idea of where they were.

"I had fun tonight." Clarke said, breaking Lexa out of her train of thought.

Lexa smiled and nodded. She glanced around and held up a finger to tell Clarke to wait. She quickly grabbed her board from the couch, discarding a pair of Lincoln's shorts that were laying on it (she was pretty sure those were the ones he had been wearing earlier).

_Text me when you get home? Just so I know your safe. Since your roommate is probably staying here tonight._

Clarke smiled," Of course."

Twenty minutes later, Lexa smiled at the text from Clarke, stating she was home. Lexa plugged her phone into it's charger and sighed at the ceiling. _What is happening to me?_

*****

Clarke tried to get some studying done over the weekend, but three things were distracting her. Octavia, who couldn't stop gushing about Lincoln. Raven, who kept bothering her to go out and have fun instead of 'reading boring, useless textbooks' (that one usually led to the same argument over and over again). And Lexa. Not Lexa herself, but the thought of her was really distracting to Clarke. For some reason, all Clarke could think of was Lexa's smile and the way her green eyes would light up at something she thought was funny. She thought of the way the sound of Lexa's voice- or the groan she made when Clarke was teasing her- had basically made her heart stop. Clarke couldn't stop thinking about the mystery that was Lexa Woods.

So she texted her. Small, meaningless texts. She texted Lexa and hoped she that she would find small tidbits of information that would give her some clues about Lexa and her past and why she didn't speak- which Clarke of course noticed right away.

"Griff!" Raven plopped down on the couch next to her.

"Raven, I'm not going to a damn bar. I told you. I need to study for this stupid exam on Monday."

"Relax. I'm not going to ask you to come out. We're not going out. We're throwing a party ourselves."

Clarke blinked at the girl sitting next to her," You're kidding, right?"

"Nope!"

"Raven, it's Sunday. No one is going to want to go to a party on a Sunday night. That's when everyone does their homework for Monday."

"You'd be surprised at how many people would come to a Sunday party, my dear Griffin."

"We're not throwing a damn party."

"Yes we are. And we're inviting Lexa."

"I swear to god, Reyes. We're not throwing a party in my apartment just so you can pretend like you're getting me and Lexa together. We barely know each other. Besides, she isn't a party person."

"How do you know?"

"She told me."

"She doesn't talk."

"Raven, you know what I mean. She told me she doesn't like parties, and I'm not going to force her into coming to one just because I'm throwing it, and we pressured her into promising to come to the next party there was."

"It's just an invitation, Clarke. She doesn't have to come."

"She's going to feel like she has to, especially because you're going to invite Anya and Lincoln. They'll drag her here, and you know it."

"What if I only invite over them and the Delinquents? Does that sound more acceptable?"

"You already bought the alcohol, didn't you?"

"Yep!"

"Unbelievable."

*****

Lexa frowned at the string of messages she was getting from Clarke.

 

Clarke G (2:11): I'm so sorry

Clarke G (2:11): I couldn't talk her out of it

Clarke G (2:11): And she got the stuff before talking to me

Clarke G (2:12): Please don't feel like you need to come

Clarke G (2:12): But it would be nice if you did

Lexa (2:14): What's going on...?

Clarke G (2:15): Raven decided she wants to throw a party at my house, and she wants you to come

Lexa (2:15): Me? Why me?

Clarke G (2:16): You wouldn't believe me if I told you. And I would love it if you came because I don't even want to have this stupid party but she bought everything already so I don't have much of a choice. I would like it if you were there, just so I could have someone to talk to

Clarke G (2:17): But obviously you don't have to come

Clarke G (2:18): It would just be nice to have someone I like to be around while I have to be tortured

 

Lexa smiled at Clarke's text ramblings. She really didn't want to go to the party either, but she had told Clarke that she would be at the next party, and she really didn't want to break that promise, mostly because she was enjoying this new found- friendship? Is that was this was? No. They were just study partners. They were just hanging out outside the library because their social circles happened to interlap.

 

Lexa (2:32): Maybe I'll come by. I did promise

Clarke G: (2:32): That would be amazing. But seriously. Only come if you want. It was a silly promise. No big deal.

Lexa (2:40): I'll be there.


	4. Chapter 4

Clarke was pouting into her drink. As promised, Raven had invited over the Delinquents, a group of their nine closest friends. They were currently tearing up her apartment with loud music she didn't know. Monty and Jasper were sitting by the window, trying not to smell the place up with their weed. Harper and Monroe were dancing with Maya. Nathan and Bryan were dancing in their own corner of the room, whispering sweet nothings to each other. Bellamy was standing by the drinks, arguing with Octavia. Raven was arm wrestling Murphy by the chip bowl.

There was no sign of Lexa, Anya, and Lincoln though.

Raven had shoved some sort of alcoholic drink in her hand after their friends arrived and went off to challenge Murphy to their usual arm wrestling contest. Clarke had looked around and realized that everyone had broken off into their respective areas, so she sat on the couch and pouted by herself.

Octavia joined her after ten or so minutes. She sat down with a huff and crossed her arms," I swear, I'm not related to him."

"What did Bellamy do this time?"

"He's trying to tell me that Lincoln is 'not a good guy for me' and I need to 'end things with him right away because he'll ruin me'. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I was 'ruined' when he left Atom at our house while he went on a date with that Echo chick back in high school."

Clarke rolled her eyes," He's just trying to preserve whatever innocence you might still possess."

Octavia scoffed," Like anyone believes I'm innocent _at all_."

"True."

"Hey! You're supposed to say 'No, Octavia. Of course we believe that'. "

"Why would I lie to your face like that?"

"I literally hate you."

"Love you, too, O."

"Yo, Griff! Look who I found!" Raven shouted from somewhere behind the couch.

Octavia and Clarke both turned toward the front door. Octavia was up and across the room in a matter of seconds. Clarke was still processing that Lexa was looking at her with those green eyes from across her apartment. In fact, she was still processing it when she realized that they were much closer.

"Are you two just gonna stare at each other all night?" Murphy drawled from the kitchen counter.

"Shut up, Murphy." Clarke said reflexively.

"I'm just saying-"

"Well, don't say it. It's none of your business."

Murphy rolled his eyes and turned back to his cup of alcohol.

"Do- uh...do you want anything to drink?" Clarke stuttered slightly.

Lexa glanced at the cup in Clarke's hand then shook her head, shrugging a little.

"Not much of a drinker?"

Another shake of the head.

"That's okay. I'm not really in a drinking mood right now. I was planning on studying all night."

Lexa smirked and raised an eyebrow. She pulled out her phone and quickly typed _Studying without me? I'm hurt_

"Hey, pre-med is a tough major, okay? I have an exam on Tuesday and like three projects due in the next two weeks. I honestly don't have time to party right now, but Raven never takes no for an answer. And I just- what?"

Next to her, Lexa was just staring at her in amusement. She shook her head slightly and nodded toward the hallway where the bedrooms were.

"You want to go to my room?" Clarke got flustered just _thinking_ about having Lexa in her room.

Another shrug and a tilted head.

"Do _I_ want to go to my room?"

Lexa nodded.

Clarke glanced around. They were in their own bubble, away from everyone else. She was sure that no one would miss them if they disappeared into her room for a bit. Clarke grabbed Lexa's hand and quickly pulled her down the hall, to the last door on the right.

She heard a slight gasp from behind her as she closed the door. Clarke turned to see Lexa marveling at the paintings she had hung up around her room.

"Do you like it?" She stepped next to where Lexa was staring at the painting she had done of a forest at sunset.

Lexa nodded slightly, her eyes glued to the picture and her mouth open ever so slightly.

"Do you want to see more?" Clarke said hesitantly.

Lexa's eyes snapped to hers, and she nodded eagerly.

Clarke bit her lip and walked over to her desk, opening the bottom drawer.

"These are some rough sketches of mine. I don't have many paintings around that I can show you." She walked over to her bed and slowly thumbed through the pages. Lexa was right next to her, drinking in every line she saw. And if she was being honest, Clarke loved the way Lexa was looking at her art. It wasn't something she showed people often, and having this kind of attention focused on it kind of made her more confident in her abilities.

After a few minutes, Clarke glanced up and saw a struggle battling in Lexa's eyes. Clarke glanced around her room and got up, walking over to her closet. She was sure Lexa was looking at her in confusion, but she ignored the girl and started digging through her closet. It took a couple minutes, but Clarke finally found what she was looking for. She walked back over to her bed and held out the marker and dry erase board.

Lexa smiled gratefully and took the board.

_You're a pre-med major. Are you at least minoring in art? Because these are all amazing, Clarke_

"I'm not. It's just a hobby. I'm afraid that if I involved school in it, painting and drawing wouldn't have the same kind of pleasure it has now. I would be too concerned with technique to really enjoy just drawing anymore."

_I can understand that. That's sort of why I'm not majoring in Sports Therapy or something like that. I want that part of my life to stay as a hobby that I enjoy_

"Exactly. Mind if I ask what exactly that hobby is?"

Clarke's heart nearly stopped when she saw how much Lexa lit up. Her hand was moving so fast as she wrote that Clarke was afraid her hand might fall off. Lexa's tongue was stuck between her teeth as she wrote. Her eyebrows were furrowed slightly, but there was still a small smile stuck on her lips that Clarke wasn't sure she realized was there. And when she handed the dry erase board over to Clarke, her breath was gone at the excitement that lit up Lexa's eyes.

_Mixed martial arts. Not exactly the safest of hobbies, but it keeps me in shape, and it's something Anya, Lincoln, and I did growing up as a bonding experience and as a way to let out all of our frustrations. Anya's dad found a class for us when we were kids, and we've been learning and practicing since then. It's become my escape now_

"That's...actually pretty amazing, Lexa. How long has it been since you started?"

_About nine years now._

"Holy shit. So you're like a professional now, right?"

Lexa grinned and shook her head. _Not quite a professional, but I can definitely hold my own_

Clarke felt herself grin back at her.

*****

Lexa was surprised at how much she was enjoying herself at this party. Then again, she and Clarke were shut in Clarke's room, away from everyone else. They weren't even talking anymore. They were curled up together, watching Parks and Rec again. It was nearing two in the morning, and neither of them made a move to get up at this episode came to an end. Not until someone knocked on the door.

"Are you two decent?" Raven called through the door.

"Since when do you knock?" Clarke responded.

The door opened. Raven and Anya sauntered in.

"Since Anya refused to see her cousin's naked ass on top of you, Blondie. What are- _are you guys watching Netflix_?"

"Yes. Because you forced me to throw a party, and Lexa was basically supposed to be my company tonight. So here we are. Doing something we would rather be doing."

"I'm sure there are other things you two would like to be doing. Like ea-"

"Rae, did you- please tell me that isn't Netflix." Octavia stopped in the doorway.

"It is, my dear baby Blake. Party Girl Griff has failed us." Raven put a hand over her heart.

"I told you, I didn't want to party tonight." Clarke grumbled.

Lexa glanced at her to make sure she wasn't really upset. Her heart melted at the sight of Clarke's bottom lip poking out ever so slightly. She glanced over at Anya and saw her cousin smirking at her. Lexa scowled and crossed her arms, looking away.

"Come on, Heda. We better get going. We have training in the morning, and Lincoln's already going to regret his decisions tonight." Anya told her.

Lexa huffed and slowly go to her feet. Clarke grabbed her arm before she got too far.

"I'll walk you out."

Clarke herded everyone out of her room and walked with Lexa to the front door. Everyone Lexa had seen earlier was gone. She was kind of grateful for that. Her original idea for going to Clarke's room was to maybe help her get some studying done. But they never so much as picked up a book, so that never happened. Getting away from the strangers was just a perk that came with escaping to her room.

"Thank you for coming tonight." Clarke muttered to her.

Lexa looked up at her, shocked that Clarke had even thought to thank her for whatever reason.

"I wasn't expecting to have fun tonight, and I'm sorry that I dragged you into that. But I really do appreciate you showing up."

Lexa shook her head, trying to tell Clarke not to apologize. She wanted her to know that she was happy to have come and that she honestly didn't regret a second of it. Clarke seemed to pick up on that a little bit and gave her a small smile.

"Text me when you get home, okay? So I don't worry all night."

Lexa raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless.

"Thank you. For everything. Good night, Lexa."

With a small nod and a wide smile, Lexa backed out of the apartment. The others were right behind her.

"So when are you going to ask her out?" Raven blurted.

After a couple seconds of silence, Lexa realized Raven was talking to her.

"Seriously? You two were all cuddled on her bed watching Netflix during a party. She has the hots for you, and you obviously have the hots for Griff. So why not?"

Lexa just blinked in confusion. She didn't like Clarke. Not like that. They were barely friends. Neither of them wanted to be at a party the Parks and Rec seemed like a good option at the time. It still did, in Lexa's opinion.

"Are you going to ask her out or what?" Anya said. All that got her was a scoff and a glare.

"Leave Lexa alone. She and Clarke just met." Lincoln threw an arm around Lexa's shoulders," You gotta give them a month before you start pushing them into a supply closet together."

Lexa shoved him away from her and crossed her arms. She walked ahead of them and hoped she would get some peace and quiet with them not being as close.

"Come on, Heda. I'm just kidding." Lincoln chuckled.

Lexa flipped him off and stayed ahead of the group.

"Don't be like that."

She stopped, turned around, and flipped him off with both hands. Anya and Raven burst out laughing. Lincoln just chuckled," Better."

Rolling her eyes, Lexa continued to walk home. As promised, she texted Clarke when she got home, not expecting a response. It was getting close to three after all. But Clarke surprised her with a text right away.

 

Clarke G (2:49): Glad you made it home okay :) did you kill Raven and Anya on the way home?

Lexa (2:50): No, but I almost killed Lincoln

Clarke G (2:50): LINCOLN?? But he's suck a sweetheart!!!

Lexa (2:50): He's my twin brother. He's not going to be a sweetheart if he sees a chance to embarrass me

Clarke G (2:52): You? Embarrassed? Now you're talking crazy

Lexa (2:52): I never said he succeeded

Clarke G (2:53): Were you?

Lexa (2:54): No!

Lexa (2:54): .....maybe

Clarke G (2:55): Awwwwww lex! That's cute

Lexa (2:58): I'm not cute. I'm badass

Clarke G (2:58): Why can't you be both?

Lexa (2:59): ....

Lexa (3:00): Nope. I'm just badass. No cute

Clarke G (3:01): You're a dork

 

Lexa wasn't even aware of the smile that was taking over her face.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been two months since Lexa and Clarke first met. They had texted each other constantly and grown closer as friends, but they rarely saw each other in person. They had a set time to meet at their table in the library every Friday night. Sometimes they were schedule an emergency study session or their friends would have a big group movie night. But other than that, they generally just texted each other throughout the day.

It had been two months since Lexa Woods had gotten a crush on Clarke Griffin, and today was the first day she realized it. It was just a normal Friday. Clarke had gotten into the habit of wearing her glasses to the library with Lexa, and Lexa was always a bit distracted by them. Today was no different.

Except that it was.

Usually, Clarke was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Her hair was usually in a bun on top of her head. Her glasses always perched on her nose. The only things that was true about that today was her glasses. She had on a dress today. One that went to mid-thigh in a loose skirt and hugged her chest and stomach in all the right places. There was a thin black cardigan hanging on her chair, and her blonde hair was thrown around her shoulders.

Lexa was having a hard time hiding keeping her attention on her work because Clarke was just so _pretty_ and Lexa was just so _gay_.

"You okay, Lexa?" Clarke asked about halfway through their study session.

She nodded and scribbled out an excuse about a headache on her spare piece of paper.

"We can go if you want. I don't want your headache to get worse."

_It's okay. Not that bad. Just a little annoying. You look really nice by the way_

"Thank you. I had an interview today for an internship at the hospital."

Lexa raised her eyebrows. She hadn't known about it.

Clarke smiled guiltily," Sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't tell anyone about it, really. I didn't want to feel any pressure from anyone. I was nervous enough as it is."

_How do you think it went?_

"Really well. I think. I'm not sure. He asked a lot of questions, and I think I was rambling a lot, but maybe I wasn't. I could have just been nervous and thought I was talking more than I really was. Oh god. What if I barely said anything, and I just thought I was talking a lot? What if he thinks I didn't really want the job because I didn't say enough? Or what if I really did say too much and he thinks I'm not fit to be there because I talk too much and wouldn't get work done because I'm talking to coworkers too much or because I would talk to the patients more than I would actually help them? Or what if-"

"Clarke."

Lexa froze, not sure what had come over her. She hadn't actually said a word in nearly three years. Nothing significant enough had really happened since she had gotten into college for her to want to say anything. Not since she had been accepted to Polis University, at the very least.

Clarke had frozen, too. She had heard Lexa groan and sigh and even giggle here and there, but she never really thought about what her voice sounds like or that she would ever get to hear it.

Both girls just stared at each other in frozen shock for a long minute. Then Lexa got flustered and looked down, scribbling out _I'm sure you did great at your interview. This is just anxiety talking_

"You...You're probably...right." Clarke breathed. Her eyes were slightly unfocused, and Lexa was starting to get worried when Clarke shook her head a little and sat back in her chair," I don't know if I can study any more. Do you want to come back to my place? We can watch a movie or something."

_Only if you show me some more drawings_

Clarke laughed," Deal."

*****

Lexa wasn't sure how she ended up half asleep with Clarke's head on her shoulder, but she really wasn't complaining about it. She was comfortable, and Clarke was asleep. They had been watching a Marvel movie. Clarke had found out that Lexa was as big of a Marvel nerd as she was and demanded that they watch one of the movies. Lexa wasn't even sure which one. She had gotten distracted before the movie even started because Clarke has walked in the room in running shorts and an oversized t-shirt that almost covered the shorts.

It had all gone downhill from there. Clarke sat down just _inches_ from Lexa and had closed that space in less than thirty minutes. And she had just found ways to get even closer during the movie. She would grab Lexa's arm if things got intense, hide her face in Lexa's shoulder if she was sad or embarrassed. Somehow, she had fidgeted around enough that Lexa hadn't noticed that their legs were tangled until it was far too late.

And honestly? Lexa didn't mind one bit. At one point, Clarke sighed and let her head fall onto Clarke's shoulder. In less than ten minutes, Lexa noticed that her eyes were closed and her breathing was slow and even. She was asleep, and Lexa started to contemplate if she should get up and leave. She didn't want to intrude on Clarke, but she also didn't want to wake the girl if she moved her wrong.

Lexa weighed her options for over half an hour before she gave in and let her eyelids droop. Clarke adjusted in her sleep and curled her arm around Lexa's center, gripping onto her shirt. For a few moments, Lexa was sure Clarke had woken up, but when she realized her breathing hadn't changed at all, Lexa relaxed again and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

The last thing she remembered was defining the word 'crush' in her head and seeing a picture of Clarke Griffin, smiling in all her glory, in her mind.

*****

"Should we wake them up?"

"I don't know. I think I want a picture. You know, for when they get married."

"Don't let them hear you say that."

"Like you don't think they'll get married some day."

"Oh, they definitely will. But I'm pretty sure they both would kill us if they heard us talking about their wedding."

Lexa was trying so hard to ignore the voices. She wasn't sure who they belonged to or where they came from, but she knew that they needed to _leave_ before someone died.

A phone rang.

"Hello? What? Calm down, I'm looking at her right now. Yes. Right now. With Octavia. Yes. Yes. Okay. See you in a few. Bye, babe."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, someone's going to die today, and I'm not entirely sure who. We should probably record it because it'll be hilarious."

Lexa was too tired to turn her head and bury her face in the pillow. It felt like she was being held down by something. Like she couldn't move if she wanted to. So she didn't bother trying and just left herself drift back to sleep, ignoring the bickering voices.

"Well, I'll be damned."

"Told you."

"As cute as this is, I've got places to be, and so does she. So I'll be taking my cousin and leaving, whether she wants to or not."

"Aw, but babe! If you don't go to class, then you don't have to go at all. We can stay here and steal all of O's Captain Crunch."

_"Buy your own damn Captain Crunch, Reyes!"_

"Sorry, babe. The devil has spoken."

_"I can still hear you!"_

"Shut it, O! We're having a heartfelt conversation!"

_"Bite me."_

"That's reserved for my girlfriend."

"Okay, enough. I need to wake her up."

"Alright."

Lexa was still trying and failing to process the conversation when she heard a light creak and an extremely annoying voice.

"Alright, Commander. You have till the count of three to get up before I shave your girlfriends head."

Both Clarke and Lexa shot out of bed and landed on the floor. Clarke was rubbing her butt, and Lexa was rubbing the side of her head (she had hit the corner of the bedside table on her way to the floor).

Lexa shot her cousin the worst glare she could muster before getting up and offering Clarke a hand. Once they were both on their feet and all limbs were accounted for, Lexa glared at her cousin again.

"Let's go, Commander. You're running late, and we have practice today. Unless you were planning on playing hooky?"

More glares.

"That's what I thought. Now say goodbye to your girlfriend so we can get going." Anya waved her hands around a bit, making her look kind of crazy.

Lexa rolled her eyes. Clarke, who had been strangely quiet, started fidgeting next to her.

"Alright over there, Blondie?"

"Mhmm. Fine."

Lexa frowned at the sound of Clarke's voice. Then she realized the Clarke was bright red and looking anywhere _but_ Lexa. She hesitated for a second before putting a questioning hand on her arm. Clarke's eyes snapped to hers, and her faced burned even brighter.

"I'm okay. I swear. It's just. It's...warm...in here." Clarke stuttered.

"She's fine. Let's go, kid. We have to get to the gym." Anya grabbed Lexa's sleeve and pulled her into the hallway. Lexa stumbled, still looking into Clarke's eyes.

Ten minutes later, Lexa was scowling in Anya's car.

"You were pretty cuddled up with your girlfriend back there."

Lexa punched her arm.

Anya barely flinched," No punching the driver. And Lincoln will meet us at the gym with some clothes for you."

Lexa just turned her head and pulled out her phone. She already had multiple messages from Clarke, apologizing for how close they were this morning and going on about how she didn't want to accidentally cross any lines. She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling at Clarke's rambling. She quickly reassured her that no lines were crossed and that she had a lot of fun the night before, despite the lack of studying.

"If you don't put that phone away, I'm going to snap it in half. Now get your ass inside." Anya growled.

With a sigh and a frown, Lexa told Clarke that she would text her in a few hours and went inside. She fully intended to beat the crap out of Anya when they sparred.

Lincoln was grinning in the entrance of the gym when she got up there. She scowled, snatched the bag out of his hand, and went to change. He just chuckled behind her.

Ten minutes later, Lexa was changed and warmed up. She looked around for Anya and found her texting. Lexa smirked at the opportunity and snuck up behind her, grabbing the phone out of Anya's hand.

"Hey! Give it back!"

Lexa shook her head and tossed it onto the pile they had their stuff in. Lincoln was a few feet away, practicing on a punching bag. He turned his head slightly at the sound of Anya protesting, but he barely faltered in his strikes.

Anya scowled," Fine. You wanna spar? Let's spar. I'll kick your ass, pipsqueak."

Lexa just rolled her eyes and moved over to the mats. Anya was right on her heels, obviously ready to get out some pent up energy. Or maybe she really did just want to pummel her cousin. Lexa didn't know, and she didn't care. It wouldn't happen anyway. Anya gave her a hard scowl and got in her fighting position. Lexa got into her stance. Lincoln had paused from his practice to come over to get them started. Once they were in their ready positions, Lincoln dropped his hand with a _"go"_. Anya let out a war cry and lunged at Lexa.

_This was going to be a lot of fun._


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one day! Enjoy! Let me know what you think

When Clarke had started college, even when she was still in high school, she was big on the party scene. She was at a party every weekend. In fact, her weekend would start on Thursday night. She would drag Raven and Octavia out Thursday nights, then all three of them would still be ready to stay up all night drinking Friday and Saturday.

Then the work load started to pick up, and Clarke started pulling back a bit. She would wait until Friday to start drinking. Then she would only drink on Saturdays, dedicating the rest of her free time to studying. And eventually, she just didn't go out anymore. She wasn't sure if she missed it or not, but she didn't care. All Clarke really wanted was to get through med school and get an internship at a good hospital without the help of her mother.

But on this particular Thursday, Clarke had decided that she wasn't going to classes at all on Friday and was celebrating all weekend. She had burst into her apartment after her last class on Thursday, walked in on Octavia and Lincoln making out on the couch, and shouted about how she got it.

"Got what?" Octavia said, casually pulling her shirt back on. (Lincoln was turning bright red and trying to figure out where exactly his shirt _was_ )

"The internship! At Arkadia! I didn't think I would get it. I thought I blew the interview. But they called on my way home and said that I got it and-"

"Wait. You had an interview for an internship at Arkadia and didn't _tell me_?"

"I didn't want to jinx it. But O! I got the internship, and we are celebrating all weekend."

"All weekend as in-?"

"As in I'm getting the shot glasses, and you're calling Raven."

Octavia jumped to her feet, completely forgetting about her poor, flustered boyfriend," Hell yes! She's going to be so excited!"

(Lincoln sat on the couch in confusion, still wondering where his shirt went.)

*****

Lexa frowned at her phone. Clarke was calling her, and she was sure it was a mistake. She was tempted to answer, but she didn't think it was a good idea.

She answered when Clarke called her a second time. She was sure it wasn't a mistake then. When she answered, she didn't say anything, but Clarke knew. Of course she knew.

"Lexa! I know you don't like partying, but I just wanted to invite you out any time this weekend because I got the internship! The one I was freaking out about last week! I actually got it, and I'm so excited, so if you want to experience Party Girl Griffin in real life, I'll be drunk basically all weekend, and I would really love it if you came. Obviously, you don't have to come if you don't want to. I just wanted to share this with you because...well, because you're my friend, and you're amazing and you're the only one that I really feel like I would be missing if you didn't come. Shit, sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I don't want you to think I'm trying to guilt you into coming. I just- I wanted to...invite you out. Or over. So. Yeah. I'll stop talking. Let me know if you want to come out tonight. We're pregaming at my place right now, then we're going to The Dropship. Anyway. Text me. Bye, Lex."

The line went dead, but Lexa didn't lower her phone.

Clarke did it. She got her internship. And she wanted Lexa to celebrate with her? It was a bad idea. Lexa did't drink. She never had. Well, she had, but only a few times. She just didn't like alcohol, and obviously, Clarke was celebrating with alcohol all weekend.

She hadn't gotten much further in her thought process when her phone buzzed with about eight text messages. At first, she thought it was Clarke telling her that she didn't have to come if she didn't want to. Then she realized that only one message was from Clarke. The others were from Anya, Lincoln, Octavia, and Raven. The last three had only sent one message each, telling her she should go just for Clarke's sake. The other four messages were from Anya, who was basically threatening the use of her limbs if she didn't show up.

Lexa didn't see much of a choice after that and got up to shower. It took her all of forty minutes to shower, decide what to wear, and put on her makeup. She texted Anya to make sure they were still at Clarke's apartment before leaving. Anya responded right away, telling her they were.

It took her twenty minutes to walk to Clarke's apartment and find the courage to knock on the door. In all honestly, she had spent more time trying to knock than she had walking to the apartment. Once she knocked, her face went pale and her heart started hammering.

The apartment door flew open just seconds after she knocked. She forgot how to breathe.

*****

"You came!" Clarke jumped forward and hugged Lexa.

Lexa stiffened at her touch, but she relaxed almost instantly. Clarke felt her arms wrap around her, pouring so much emotion into that one hug.

"I'm so glad you're here." Clarke whispered, not wanting to let her go.

Lexa pulled back and smiled. Clarke's hear was pounding in her chest, and she wasn't sure if it was from the adrenaline from the internship, the alcohol, or just seeing Lexa. After Lexa spent the night and was whisked away last week, Clarke had spent pretty much the entire day thinking about only Lexa. It had taken her hours of thinking, a box of pizza, and a few harsh words from Octavia for her to realize that she a bit more than a crush on Lexa.

"I know you're not much of a drinker, but...do you want something to drink?" Clarke asked.

She saw the hesitation in Lexa's eyes, but the girl nodded anyway.

Clarke smiled, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into the kitchen. She quickly poured two shots of whatever liquor was near and held one out for Lexa. Again, Lexa hesitated but took the shot in her hand and clinked it against Clarke's glass. Clarke could only take that as a toast to her. With a smile, Clarke and Lexa both downed their shots. Lexa shuddered at the taste of the alcohol entering her system, but Clarke was already six shots into the night and didn't really feel it anymore.

"The Delinquents are meeting us at the Dropship." Raven said. Lexa frowned and glanced around. She obviously had not seen her anywhere before now.

"Hello to you, too, Woods."

Lexa gave her a fake salute and turned around, pouring herself another shot. Clarke watched in amazement as she downed two shots of Fireball in a row.

"Damn. Woods came to party." Raven grinned in approval and ran off to Anya.

"You alright, Lex?" Clarke asked.

Lexa nodded. She was eyeing the alcohol, probably trying to figure out if she wanted to take another shot or not. She must have decided against it because she fully turned towards Clarke and pointed over her shoulder where everyone else was.

"Yeah. We should get going. I want to get in as much dancing as possible tonight."

Lexa smiled and grabbed a hold of Clarke's hand. Clarke was so shocked that Lexa initiated contact that she hadn't realized that Lexa had led her out of the apartment with everyone else. She only realized that they had left when the cool night air hit her.

The group happily walked the mile into town to get to the club, talking and laughing the whole way. Clarke didn't stop smiling the whole way. She was happy to have all of her friends there, and it definitely didn't hurt that Lexa hadn't let go of her hand.

"Princess!" A deep voice shouted just as the got to the club.

Clarke looked up and saw Bellamy and the rest of their friends just arriving themselves.

"Way to go on your internship, kid!" Bellamy gave her a hug only a big brother could give. He wasn't actually her big brother, but the Blakes had lived a couple streets over, and Clarke and Octavia had been best friends since kindergarten. It was inevitable that Bellamy would basically become her big brother.

"Thanks, Bell!"

"I'll buy you a drink, Princess. Let's get this show on the road!" Jasper shouted into the night. Jasper was always the hype man of the group, and Raven was the hype woman. So the second Jasper shouted that out, Raven grinned and shouted in agreement. Soon, everyone was laughing and heading inside, ready for a night out.

Clarke felt Lexa's hand loosen a bit in hers. She looked back at Lexa and saw anxiety written all over her face. Clarke pulled her a bit to the side.

"Are you okay?"

Lexa nodded.

"Are you sure? We can wait out here for a while. I don't mind."

Lexa frowned and shook her head. She grabbed her phone and typed out _This is your night. Don't hold back just because I'm not used to being out_

"But I want you to be happy, too."

_I am. Just not used to being around so many people_

"I'm going to wait out here with you." Clarke said decisively. She didn't want to admit that she really just didn't want to leave Lexa's side tonight. Not because she was worried, but because she just wanted to spend as much time as possible with Lexa. She knew it probably wasn't a good idea. She was just feeding her crush, and Lexa probably didn't even feel the same way.

Lexa gave her an exasperated look but nodded nonetheless. Clarke told Octavia to go in without them and went to stand with Lexa. They didn't say anything right away. They just stood together for a few minutes before Lexa started fidgeting.

"What's wrong?"

Lexa shook her head. Clarke watched her for a few seconds. Lexa kept looking towards the door. She would glance down the street every once in a while but she getting her focus on the door more than anything else.

"Did you want to go inside now?"

Lexa's eyes snapped back to Clarke's. She saw the hesitation. Lexa started to shake her head but stopped and slowly nodded.

"Okay." Clarke nodded and slipped her hand into Lexa's yet again.

They made their way inside, quickly finding their friends. Clarke suddenly felt the alcohol hit her. She was sure it was because of the flashing lights and pulsing music. Lexa's hand was tightly clutching hers as they made their way to the bar where her friends were gathered around.

Jasper immediately saw her and shoved a shot in her hand. She didn't hesitate to down it and wave over the bartender. She quickly ordered to mixed drinks and handed one to Lexa. Lexa took it, looking more shocked than Clarke would have expected.

*****

Lexa knew it was a bad idea, but she got drunk. _Really_ drunk, actually. And she had a good time doing it. She spent the evening drinking and dancing with Clarke, Anya, and Lincoln. She was having such a good time, and she had gotten just drunk enough that she hadn't realized the time passing. Soon enough, the DJ was announcing last call. Then the lights were on, the music was gone, people were complaining. Security started to herd people towards the door.

Clarke and Lexa were leaning on each other, trying to stay upright as they giggled at nothing. Their whole group was at varying states of sobriety. Surprisingly enough, Raven and Anya were the most sober of them all. The two of them were shepherding their group of friends in the general direction of their apartments. Clarke was jabbering on about something to do with paint. Lexa wasn't actually sure what she was talking about, but she was listening as well as she could and responded with as many nods as she could.

"Alright, Lex. I don't have the energy to get your drunk ass home, so you're gonna stay here tonight. Okay?" Anya told her when they got to Clarke's apartment.

Lexa nodded enthusiastically.

"Let's get you all set up on the couch. I want to make sure you sleep before I go home."

"It's okay! She can sleep with me." Clarke chirped from next to her.

Lexa looked at her in surprise. Clarke turned bright red," Not- I didn't- I mean she can sleep in my bed while I'm sleeping in it, too. Not have sex with me. I mean, that would probably- I mean...I...she can stay in my room with me."

"O...kay. Let's get you both changed and in bed. Okay?" Raven said slowly.

Clarke and Lexa both nodded. They hurried down the hall. Lexa went to Clarke's room and immediately fell on the bed. She wasn't sure where Clarke was until she heard Raven tell Clarke to get out of the bathtub.

Lexa was in and out of sleep for the next bit of time, not really sure what was happening. She would hear all three voices every once in a while, and after she was woken up to get changed into shorts and a tank top, she heard Anya say something about the two of them being more difficult to get to bed than a couple of two year old twins. Lexa didn't care. She just wanted to sleep. So once she was changed, she collapsed onto the side of the bed she had slept on just a week before and let herself doze off.

She was just on the edge of sleep when she felt someone- probably Clarke- fall into bed besides her and wrap their arms around her waist. Lexa smiled when she smelled that all too familiar scent.

Vanilla and lilies.

Lexa smiled and buried her nose into Clarke's hair. Not ten seconds passed before she was fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I don't really edit so sorry for any and all mistakes. I might find some and fix them as I reread in the future. But for now, they're probably just going to stay there


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and comments! You guys are pretty amazing, and I appreciate the support a ton.
> 
> Okay, this one is a little shorter than usual, but this is purely Clexa with some sad. It's time to learn about Clarke's past! I promise, it doesn't get too bad. It's surrounded by a bunch of fluff.

Over the next few weeks, Clarke and Lexa continued their study sessions and started spending more time together outside the library and friend group. They would get together at one of their houses and study while watching a movie. Or they would meet up for lunch during the week. Sometimes, they would just sit in silence together so Lexa could read and Clarke could draw.

Lexa found herself looking forward to those times with Clarke. They were just small, insignificant moments, and there was nothing special about them. But they were all special because they were moments for just her and Clarke.

Lexa also found herself dreading these moments because every moment she spent with Clarke made her crush grow more and more. In fact, she wasn't sure it was just a crush anymore. Lexa was sure that she was slowly but surely falling in love with Clarke Griffin.

Today, they were supposed to be watching Netflix and eating junk food. Lexa was slouching on the couch, her feet propped up on the coffee table. Clarke was laying across the entire couch, her head on Lexa's stomach and Lexa's fingers threading through her hair. A good amount of their personal boundaries had disappeared since they woke up wrapped around each other the second time.

"Lex, do you wanna do something different?"

Lexa furrowed her eyebrows, trying to figure out what they could possibly do this late on a Saturday night that didn't involve drinking.

"We don't have to if you don't want to. I was just thinking..." Clarke trailed off.

Lexa removed her fingers from Clarke hair and turned Clarke's chin just enough so she was looking into Lexa's eyes. She smiled and nodded. Clarke beamed at her and sat up.

"Go get your shoes! Is it cold out? Grab a jacket too. I think it's supposed to be a bit chilly." Clarke was in the kitchen before Lexa could even pause their movie.

Lexa just looked at her in confusion. It took Clarke a couple seconds to realize that Lexa hadn't moved.

"Chop chop! Go get your stuff! We don't have a schedule, but I'm excited, so let's go!"

Lexa grinned and shook her head. She decided it was best just to go along with it. So she grabbed a hoodie from her room and slipped into a pair of shoes as Clarke finished what she was doing and quickly grabbed her shoes and jacket.

"Ready to go?" Clarke asked when she had her shoes on.

Lexa nodded. Clarke had a cloth grocery bag and a blanket in her hand. Lexa sent her questioning eyes, but Clarke just shook her head, still grinning.

"Not telling you. Just gonna have to wait and see."

Hearing that made Lexa huff and pout slightly.

Clarke just laughed," Don't worry, you big baby. You'll find out in like ten minutes. You'll live that long."

She laughed again when Lexa just huffed and threw her hands in the air as if to say _who knows if I'll live that long?_

"Alright, drama queen. Let's go so the curiosity doesn't kill you."

And true to her word, they arrived at a park just ten minutes later. Lexa looked around, knowing this was the park they usually sat at when they went on walks. She had no idea what Clarke had brought them there for. Clarke just smiled and led her to the top of a small hill in the middle of the park. There was a picnic table at the top.

"Here we are." Clarke smiled and set down her bag.

Lexa looked at her surroundings again, wondering if she missed something. All she saw was the picnic table. Everything else was past the base of the hill.

Beside her, Clarke was unfolding the blanket and spreading it out on the ground.

"Sit down, silly. We're having a picnic under the stars."

Lexa looked at Clarke then glanced up at the sky. Her jaw dropped when she saw just how many stars there were. Slowly, Lexa lowered herself to the ground, not taking her eyes off the millions of stars she could see.

"This is one of my favorite things about Polis." Clarke said softly," It's big enough that there are things to do, but it's not an actual city so there isn't nearly as much light pollution. I love the stars. They make me think of my dad."

At that, Lexa tore her eyes away from the stars and over to Clarke's eyes. Clarke wasn't looking at her thought. She was still looking up. Lexa waited for her to say something. She knew that talking about her dad was hard for Clarke. He had passed away towards the end of high school, which is why she became Party Girl Griffin. But that's all the Lexa really knew about the man. And if she so willingly brought him up in conversation, there was no way Lexa was going to mess it up.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Clarke looked at the blanket," He knew so much about them, you know. He would always wake me up in the middle of the night during summer and take me to the backyard. We would look at the stars and talk about them for hours before we went back to bed. He pointed out all of his favorite constellations and showed me where all the big stars were. He taught me about red giants and supernovas and everything in between. Stars were his favorite subject, and I was always so excited when he woke me up to watch them together."

A few tears rolled down Clarke's cheeks. She didn't do anything to hide them. Lexa wasn't sure she was aware of them because her eyes were distant, unfocused. They were lacking the shine they usually held.

"Then one night, it was my mom who woke me up. Dad had been working late that night and wasn't supposed to be home until late. But he never came home, and instead, my mom got a call telling her that her husband had been in an accident that had killed him instantly. That they needed her to go down and confirm that it was his body. She woke me up to tell me that my father was dead and that she was going out to prove that they weren't lying."

Lexa scooted closer to Clarke and slipped an arm around her shoulders. Clarke let her head drop onto Lexa's shoulder as she cried. She hadn't told that story to anyone before, and she wasn't on planning it tonight. Or ever, if she had the chance. But she really trusted Lexa, and something about the girl made her want to open up.

"It was my seventeenth birthday, Lex. I lost him on my birthday."

The tears took over. She couldn't stop the sobs that wracked her body. All the while, Lexa sat there, silently holding her and letting her cry. Clarke was grateful for that. She didn't have the strength to keep talking. Not about her dad or about how much she missed him. She couldn't say how much she hated her mother for waking her up on the early morning of her birthday to tell her that her father was gone. She hated that she never got to see him again. That the last thing she had said to him was ' _see you later, Dad. Love you_ '. Like she was going to see him at dinner. But the worst part, aside from losing her father, was that she had blamed so much of her pain on her mother, that she had practically destroyed their relationship.

Twenty minutes passed before Clarke was able to calm down. She sniffled and turned her head slightly, trying not to get anymore tears and snot on Lexa's shirt.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

There was a beat of silence before-

"Clarke."

Clarke froze for the slightest second," Lex?"

"Don't."

"Feel sorry?"

She felt Lexa nod.

"I just...I didn't mean to...to ruin your shirt. And ruin the night. Or anything."

Lexa pulled back and pulled her chin up so that Clarke was looking in her eyes. Neither Lexa nor Clarke said anything. Clarke wasn't sure she wanted to say or hear anything anyway. She got lost in Lexa's green eyes. She found a certain peace in the calm eyes in front of her.

_When did we get so close?_

Clarke hadn't realized that they so close until their noses brushed. She didn't know if she was moving or if it was Lexa or if it was both. All she knew was that she _really_ wanted to kiss her.

Lexa's lips had barely brushed hers when Clarke surged forward and firmly pressed her lips against Lexa's.

It was short and sweet, and Clarke wanted it to last forever. But when she pulled away a couple seconds later, she looked at her lap. Maybe kissing her wasn't the greatest idea.

"What are we doing, Lex?" Clarke whispered. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lexa frown.

"I mean...I like you. I _really_ like you. And that kiss was...amazing. I wouldn't trade it for the world. But...if all of this is just because I'm upset and because you feel bad for me or feel like you need to do whatever, I don't know if I can handle that."

Lexa put a finger under Clarke's chin again. Clarke thought she was going to make her look at her again, but she was pleasantly surprised when Lexa kissed her a second time. Before reaching for her phone and starting to type.

_If I felt bad for you, I would get you a hallmark card. Yeah, losing a parent is awful. I've been there. I'm not going to pity you or whatever. I'm sorry that happened. No one should ever have to feel that pain. But Clarke, why do you think I let you in so easy? I had exactly two friends before you. You've wormed your way into my life. I really like you too. That kiss probably wasn't timed the best, but I was kind of hoping that it at least showed you how much you mean to me._

Clarke teared up again," So you like me, too?"

_Of course I do. I would very much love to take you on a date. If you want?_

Clarke giggled at the last bit and kissed Lexa's cheek," I would love that."

Lexa smiled so bright that Clarke was sure she would have been blinded if it wasn't dark out.

"I did pack some food. How about we eat and then go back to your place to finish the movie?”

Lexa just answered with a kiss to the cheek and grabbing the bag that was sitting at their feet. They quickly finished the food but didn’t leave right away. Instead, they were laying on their backs, staring at the stars. Clarke told Lexa about every constellation she could think of. She told her about how her dad would forget a story sometimes and just make one up, and that she did the same quite often because she didn’t remember them nearly as well as he did.

All the while, Lexa was listening in wonder. Clarke almost thought she had fallen asleep at one point, so she paused and looked over at Lexa, but she was just staring at the sky, eyes wide. And when she realized Clarke had stopped talking, she turned her head and saw Clarke smiling softly.

"You're beautiful," Clarke said in response to the confused look Lexa gave her.

Lexa blushed and tried to hide her smile by looking back up at the sky. With a grin, Clarke kissed her cheek and stood up.

"Come on. I'm ready to watch the rest of that movie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'd like everyone to know that I'd like to update as close to daily as possible, but that probably won't happen because of my work schedule. Basically, the days that I do not update are the days that I work 8-13 hour shifts, and I just have no time or energy to work on those days. I'll try to make it up with double updates on my day off, but I can't promise that either.
> 
> Still, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I took kind of long to update, this one is just a little longer

"You're taking her on a date?"

_Yes_

" _You_ , Lexa Woods, are taking her, _Clarke Griffin_ , on a date?"

_Yes, Anya_

"I don't think you understand my question. You are taking Clarke Griffin out for a night on the town and will most likely hold hands, walk her to her door, and kiss her good night. You're doing that?"

_I don't think you understand what the word 'yes' means_

"Heda, this is huge! Like stop-the-presses-I-need-to-call-the-president huge. Tell me everything!"

_No_

Anya threw her hands in the air and spun around, glaring at Lexa. Lexa was just lounging on Anya's couch, being tortured by a pacing Anya.

"I can't stand you."

_There's a chair right there_

Anya grabbed the dry erase board out of Lexa's hand and threw it across the room. Lexa watched it crash against a wall. She turned around and pouted.

"You are going to tell me all the gross mushy details about how you asked her out." Anya growled, sticking a finger in Lexa's face.

Lexa frowned and held her empty hands out.

"Oh no. Don't pull that game with me. Type it on your phone. Type it on _my_ phone. Send me some damn smoke signals. I don't care. But you're telling me about it. Right now." Anya dropped onto the couch. Well, onto Lexa's legs.

Lexa yelped in pain, yanked her feet from under her cousin, and gently kicked her thigh.

"Well, if you weren't such a pain in the butt..."

With a shove at her cousin, Lexa got up and walked to the kitchen.

"Oh come on!" Anya whined.

Lexa flipped her off and opened the fridge.

*****

"Okay, Griff. Spill the details. How did it happen?" Raven dropped onto Clarke's couch and crossed her ankles on Clarke's lap.

"Wha- gross, Rae. It's raining out and you haven't even taken off your shoes."

Raven quickly kicked off her shoes. They flopped loudly to the ground and left smudges of mud on the carpet.

"Better?"

"Seriously, Rae?"

"What?"

Clarke rolled her eyes.

"Now, you're not getting out of this. Tell us what happened. Get _out_ here, Octavia!" Raven shouted.

"I'm kind of busy!" Octavia called from the bathroom.

"You can stop putting your face on long enough to listen to Griffin tell us about her night out with Lexa."

"My date is in twenty minutes!"

"Then get a damn mirror and multi task out here."

There were a few crashes and a lot of swearing before Octavia appeared in the living room.

"Talk," she growled, working on her half finished winged eye-liner.

"There's nothing to tell."

Octavia's head snapped around," I just dug through our mess of a bathroom to find this damn mirror, packed up _all_ of my makeup, and set myself up out here to hear you talk about your night with Lexa. There better be more than just _nothing to tell_."

Clarke sighed.

"Alright. But it's not that interesting."

And she told them the whole story. And when she was done, Octavia was both doing her makeup, either because she was actually finished or because she was shocked.

"So you're telling me that you told her about your dad- _which you have never done before_ \- and then you kissed her and got a date out of it?" Octavia said.

"Well...I suppose. But when you put it that way-"

"Do you want to fight for the maid of honor spot, or should we just be co-maids of honor? Because we both know Anya or Lincoln are going to be standing next to Lexa at their wedding." Raven said.

"If you end up being maid of honor, I call dibs on godmother of her children."

"Whoa. Wait. No one is getting married, and no one is having children." Clarke protested.

"Well, yeah. You got her to talk, you opened up about the worst thing that has happened to you _ever_ , you make out, and you get a date all in the same _hour_?" Raven listed.

"I think it's safe to say you're gonna marry her." Octavia nodded.

"Don't you have a date to get ready for?"

"Screw, Lincoln. I could show up wearing a tin foul hat and a pinata as a skirt and and he would still want to get down and dirty with me."

"Damn right." Raven held her hand out and Octavia proudly gave her a high five.

"You guys are terrible." Clarke grumbled.

"Lighten up, Clarkey. Lincoln will be fine." Octavia dismissed.

Clarke sighed. Her two friends had somehow started talking about color themes for her wedding with a girl she hadn't even gone on a date with. She started to slide down in her seat when there was a knock on the door.

Octavia sprung up in her seat and all but sprinted to the door. Raven rolled her eyes and started picking at her fingernails. While Octavia greeted Lincoln, Clarke put her hand on Raven's knee.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Raven put on a smile that most people would pass as normal. But Clarke wasn't most people. She had known Raven for the better part of ten years.

"Rae," Clarke said softly.

Raven clenched her jaw and glanced at the door.

The two of them waited for Octavia to say goodbye and leave. Clarke didn't say anything for a couple minutes, hoping Raven would bring it up herself. But when she didn't after fifteen minutes, Clarke got up and made hot chocolate. Another ten minutes passed in silence.

It wasn't until Raven was almost done with her hot chocolate that she spoke.

"I miss her."

"Miss who?"

"O. I miss her. Ever since she started dating Lincoln, she's been ditching me for him, missing our usual lunch dates, canceling our plans last second because she forgot that she made plans with Lincoln. I just miss her."

"Why don't you tell her, Rae?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"He makes her so happy. Clarke, I've never seen her this happy. I don't want to ruin that because I don't have her around as often."

"You wouldn't be ruining anything, Raven. I'm sure she misses you as much as you miss her."

Raven scoffed," She doesn't miss me. I bet O doesn't even notice."

"That's not true."

She shook her head and stood up," I have...have studying...to do. I'll...talk to you later, Clarke."

"Rae, wait-"

The door was closed before Clarke could even get off the couch. She leaned back, not sure what to do. After a few minutes, Clarke pulled out her phone.

 

Blondie (8:51): We have a problem

Anya (8:58): Do we, now?

Blondie (8:58): It's Raven

Anya (9:00): We'll be there in a minute

Blondie (9:01): We?

Less than ten minutes later, Clarke was making sure that her heart was still working because Anya had burst through the front door with Lexa silently trailing in behind her.

"What about Raven?" Anya demanded.

"Jesus, Anya. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Clarke was still clutching her chest.

" _What. About. Raven._ "

"She's upset because she thinks Octavia doesn't need her anymore because she's spending a lot of time with Lincoln."

"She what?"

"Raven and Octavia have regular lunch dates, but O's been skipping out on them to spend time with Lincoln. And they'll make plans or something, but O will cancel them that night because she forgot that she had a date with Lincoln. Raven's just super upset about it."

"Why doesn't she just tell her?"

"She thinks it'll just upset O."

"That's ridiculous!"

"I can't tell her that she's being stupid, and you're the only person that might be able to make her feel better, so can you just go check to make sure she's okay?"

"Where did she go?"

"My guess was home."

Anya's face turned a little pale," We were just there. She's not at home."

"Then...then try the garage? I know she complains about that place all the time, but she really does love it there. Banter with Wick, learning from Sinclair, getting her hands all greasy. She lives for that."

Anya nodded," I'll go check. Stay here, kid. We aren't done with that conversation we were having."

Lexa flipped off her cousin and crossed her arms.

"Don't be a brat. Behave with your girlfriend, and maybe I'll buy you ice cream later." Anya smirked.

Both Clarke and Lexa blushed. Lexa punched Anya's arm while Clarke's mind started racing.

_Did she really say I was her girlfriend? We aren't- I mean she only asked me on a date. We're barely dating. Barely._

Anya laughed and left the apartment. Clarke looked over at Lexa, who was hiding her burning face in shame.

"Lex?"

In an instant, Lexa had her phone out and was texting faster than Clarke thought possible.

_I swear, I didn't say we were girlfriends. We were talking about the other night before we came over here and I guess she just wanted to embarrass me, but what else is new?_

Clarke smiled at the short ramble Lexa had typed out.

"It's okay. I was a bit confused for a minute there, but I figured you hadn't said that we were..." Clarke trailed off, not sure she could actually voice the word.

Lexa smiled in relief.

"Come on. Since I'm apparently babysitting you, let's watch a movie."

*****

Lexa fell asleep first. They were watching some documentary on squids that she had been wanting to watch. She had been so excited to watch it at first that she was almost angry when she felt the first wave of sleepiness wash over her. She tried so hard to stay focused on the documentary, but ultimately, she lost the battle.

Clarke, on the other hand, was bored out of her mind but had agreed to watch it because Lexa was just so damn cute when she got excited about it. And the second she noticed Lexa was asleep, she turned it off and put on some random show in the background for herself.

About ten minutes into the first episode, Clarke realized she had a problem. She wanted to draw _very badly_. She wanted to draw a certain girl whose head a resting on her shoulder, and her sketch book was in her bedroom. There wasn't even a pencil _in_ the living room. Clarke could feel her fingers twitching impatiently for something to do, but she didn't have anything she _could_ do. After five or so minutes of impatient twitching, Clarke had settled on drawing invisible designs on the back of Lexa's hand, which was tangled in hers.

She drew swirls and patterns all over Lexa's hand, and she pretended she could see an intricate design coming to life on her skin. For twenty minutes, she just traced her finger back and forth before Lexa stirred a bit. Clarke froze, afraid that she woke Lexa up, but she relaxed again when Lexa just nuzzled her face further into Clarke's shoulder.

A smile took over Clarke's face. She was aware of it the second it happened, and she just didn't care. Lexa made her happy without even realizing it. It was almost ridiculous how happy it made Clarke feel that Lexa was asleep in _her_ apartment on _her_ shoulder because she was watching a boring documentary with _her_.

She was so happy that she didn't hear the front door open right away. 

"Hey."

Clarke jumped and scared Lexa awake. Lexa looked around in tired shock and pouted when she noticed that something else was on the TV.

"I didn't want to finish it with you asleep. You wanted to watch it so bad. We'll finish it some other time, okay?" Clarke said.

Lexa continued to pout but nodded nonetheless.

"Sorry. Didn't know you were asleep. Just wanted to say hi before I go to bed." Octavia said, pulling off her jacket.

Lexa shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

"It's fine, O." Clarke smiled.

"Where's...where's Raven?" Octavia looked around like she was expecting Raven to jump out of the hallway with a cake and a couple of strippers (something she had done before).

"She...she went home. A little after you left. Something about working." Clarke lied. She hated that she did it, but really, it wasn't her place to tell Octavia why Raven left.

"Oh. I was hoping to catch up with her. We haven't actually spent time together in a while, and I know it's all my fault. I just miss her." Octavia nodded, disappointment showing in her voice and on her face.

"Text her. Tell her that. I think she's feeling the distance between you two."

Lexa nodded.

"I'll go do that now. How was your guys's night?"

"Just Netfllix. Not much to tell."

Lexa looked at Clarke like she was crazy. Clarke laughed," Okay, not much for _me_ to tell. Lexa over here might have quite a few fun facts to tell you about squids though."

" _Squids?_ " Octavia looked at Lexa in confusion.

But Lexa just beamed and nodded excitedly.

"I...am going to have to pass right now. It was kind of a long night. I'll tell you about it in the morning. But...I am curious, so please. Tell me about the squids soon. I'm going to bed. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"That's not saying much, O!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I should be able to update pretty normally the next couple days. If I don't update, it's literally just me being lazy, and I'm sorry.
> 
> Sorry for the mistakes! I'm half asleep so there are probably a ton! Let me know what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

Despite seeing each other all the time, Clarke and Lexa still had their study dates. They would curl up in their corner of the library and get there work done, though there was much less homework going on now than when they started.

On this particular day, they were getting a fair amount of work done. Well, Clarke was. Lexa was staring at her computer screen, trying to find the right words for the blank word document in front of her.

"You okay over there, Lex?" Clarke glanced at her over her glasses.

Lexa felt her face turn bright red as she nodded, maybe a little too quickly.

"Are...are you sure?" Clarke turned her attention fully towards Lexa.

Again, she nodded.

"Okay. Well, let me know if there's anything wrong. If I can help with anything."

When Clarke turned back to her work, Lexa glared at her computer screen, as if it was the computer's fault that she couldn't phrase a simple question the right way.

"You're sure you're okay? You look like you're about to kill your word document."

Lexa hesitated and just threw some words into a question.

_Did you want to have that date next week instead of coming to the library?_

Clarke giggled," Yes, Lexa. That sounds great."

Lexa's face lit up. That was a question that had been bothering her for the past week and a half. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. The smile that was on Clarke's face just made her feel like she could do anything.

A piece of paper fluttered onto her keyboard.

_If you smile any harder, your pretty face might break_

Blushing, Lexa glanced at Clarke. She was writing something in a notebook, but she glanced up at Lexa for a split second and winked.

_Can't help it. This gorgeous blonde agreed to go on a date with me, and I can't stop thinking about her_

Clarke smiled and bit her lip.

_Ooh should I be jealous?_

Lexa rolled her eyes, but her smile was still firmly in place. She couldn't find it in her to pull her eyes away from Clarke's.

"God. Come here." Clarke moved close, put her hand on the back of Lexa's neck, and kissed her.

Lexa kissed her back right away. That was something she had been missing in the past week and a half as well. They had only kissed the one time, but Lexa had had _dreams_ of Clarke's lips on hers again.

"I don't think I'm going to get much more work done tonight. Wanna get out of here?" Clarke whispered.

Lexa nodded very slightly.

"Did you get any work done?" Clarke asked, looking at Lexa's laptop screen.

Lexa shook her had and hurried to put it away, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"Maybe we should stay and-"

She cut off when she saw the look Lexa gave her. Clarke held back a laugh and started packing her things. Not five minutes later, they were on their way to Lexa's house, fingers intertwined.

Clarke turned Lexa around when they stopped in front of her apartment. Lexa had been trying to unlock the door, but Clarke had other ideas. Clarke had her pinned against the wall next to the front door, her lips moving heatedly against Lexa's. Lexa gladly grabbed Clarke's waist and pulled at her hips, trying to bring Clarke impossibly closer.

Then the door swung open.

"MY EYES."

Clarke and Lexa pulled apart in exasperation and embarrassment. After an apologetic look to Lexa, Clarke turned her head and glared at her friend," Are you serious, Raven?"

"I'm blind!" Raven whined.

"Shut the fuck up and go inside."

Being Raven, she couldn't walk inside like a normal person. No, she decided that she needed to dramatically run into a wall, then a doorframe, then a stool when she made it inside. Clarke groaned and dropped her head onto Lexa's shoulder. Lexa breathed out a laugh and ran her fingers through Clarke's hair. After a couple seconds, they walked into her apartment, only to be greeted with Raven still being overdramatic.

She was laying across the couch, an arm draped over her eyes.

"It was awful. I don't think I'll be able to ever see again. Am I going to live, doc?"

"Get off." Anya grumbled, shoving Raven's head off her lap.

"I don't know, Rae. Sounds like there's a bad case of love sickness around, and you're just a side effect." Octavia grinned.

Raven sprung off of the couch with a yelp," I'm a _what_?"

"A side effect, Harry. You're a side effect."

"That makes no sense."

"Let's review, shall we?" Octavia turned and grinned at Lexa and Clarke," You walked outside and saw these two doing something unholy. They have both come down with a case of love sickness. Side effects include heart eyes, blushing, kissing, holding hands, and making everyone else sick at the sight of their sweet mushiness."

"Oh god. I'm a side effect!" Raven flopped back down on the couch," Tell my girlfriend I love her!"

"I'm right here, dumbass." Anya grumbled again.

"Raven, stop being dramatic." Clarke sighed.

Raven gasped," Me? Dramatic? Never! How dare you even imply such a thing!"

Clarke rolled her eyes. Lexa, who was officially tired of the conversation, grabbed onto Clarke's hand and started dragging her to her room.

"Open door policy, sis!" Lincoln called.

Lexa threw a pen at him and continued to her bedroom.

"Raven's really good at ruining things." Clarke muttered, sitting on the edge of Lexa's bed.

Lexa sighed and nodded. She pulled out her dry erase board. _But it's probably better that she ruined it this time. We should probably wait till after the date?_

"I guess so. But also, fuck social rules that say date first and anything dirty after. If I want to have sex the day before my date- or an _hour_ before it- then I sure as fuck will. Not that- I mean, I don't want to...to pressure or imply...because consent is important. Necessary actually-"

_You're cute when you're nervous_

"Only when I'm nervous?"

_All the time. But especially when you're nervous_

Clarke blushed and looked down, playing with the ends of her hair. Lexa sat down next to her and pulled out her laptop, pulling up Netflix.

*****

The date was two days away, and Lexa still hadn't figured out what they were going to do. She didn't want to do a cliche date. Dinner and a movie. Coffee date. Those were both hard when there was a lot of talking involved at some point. They had already done a romantic picnic under the stars, so Lexa didn't want to recreate that. Not right now at least. Maybe if this date worked out and if they officially became a thing, she would recreate that for some big, special moment. But for this date, their first date, she wanted something different that didn't involve a lot of talking that they both would enjoy. And she just couldn't think of many options.

Anya and Lincoln had given her a few ideas. An art gallery. Roller skating. An aquarium. Bowling. They weren't bad ideas. She just didn't think any of them were the _right_ ideas.

When she got desperate on Wednesday, she resorted to google. There wasn't much more out there than what Lincoln and Anya had said, so she googled things in the area that they could do. There still weren't many options from what she could see.

The more time she spent looking, the more panicked she got. Lexa was considering telling Clarke that maybe they _shouldn't_ go on a date, but she knew that wasn't an option. They'd both confessed their feelings, and they were in a weird place between dating and being friends. Because on more than one occasion, they had found themselves alone, carrying out their days like they usually did until one of them was overcome by the sudden urge to kiss the other. That usually ended up with one of them shirtless on a bed or couch, but nothing more than that.

Lexa gave up trying to find something around two in the afternoon. Her classes had finished at noon (two of her classes were cancelled for the day) and she had spent the past hour and a half trying to find something to do for the date. When that proved impossible, Lexa sighed and got changed, deciding that going to the gym would help her clear her mind at least a little bit. Maybe enough to let her find an answer to her problem.

Lincoln came with her. He was skipping some class because he'd forgotten to do an assignment and didn't feel like having that conversation with his professor. So he sparred with her for a solid hour and a half before they drifted apart and worked out the rest of their energy on punching bags and jump roping.

Lexa let her fists collide with the bag in short rhythms, enjoying the dull sound it made. The combinations she beat slowly became longer. Just like the strings of thoughts in her head.

_Movies. Cliche. Bowling. Super cliche. Park. We've done that already. Aquarium. Not this time. Art gallery. No, save that for something special. Jeez, just figure something out. Picnic. No, that was when we went to the park. Book store? Jesus, Lexa, have you ever watched Clarke read something that wasn't a textbook? Don't even bother with the mall. That's a date you would go on in middle school. Come on, Lexa. Think. What else could we do? Mini golf? You've seen Clarke accidentally smack Raven in the face with a fork. What makes you think putting a damn golf club in her hand is a good idea? Arcade? Even if there was one in Polis you would consider, have you ever seen Clarke play anything more intense than Bubble Witch? There has to be some-_

Lincoln touched her back and ended up on the floor. He coughed a bit from the unexpected impact but laughed when he got to his feet and told her not to worry about it. He had scared her, but she had been letting loose a combo that lasted a solid two minutes.

"Honestly, Heda, it looked like you were trying to use your fists as bullets or something. Good thing you didn't have a gun or that thing would be nonexistent right now." Lincoln chuckled as they walked out of the gym.

Lexa shrugged and stepped a bit to the side as a couple of laughing kids ran past with plastic light sabers. She took maybe two more steps before she froze in her spot.

"Lexa?" Lincoln turned from his spot a few feet in front of him.

She stared at him for a couple seconds before grabbing his arm and practically sprinting home.

"What's going on?" he panted when the front door slammed shut.

Lexa dove at her laptop. Two minutes later, she let out a triumphant squeal and fumbled for her phone.

"Lexa?" Lincoln asked from the kitchen.

She finished her text to Clarke and quickly texted Lincoln so she could continue to celebrate.

Finally.

She knew where she was going to take Clarke on a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The date is going to be the next chapter. Hopefully I'll have it up tonight. If not, it'll be tomorrow night.
> 
> Lemme know what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super shitty!! I was supposed to have this up like two days ago!! And I'm sorry!! Life just got in the way!!
> 
> This is why I don't do update schedules, guys.
> 
> Anyway...
> 
> This one's longer than usual to make up for the extra time that I took.

Clarke had been pacing through her entire apartment since early afternoon. She had been dressed for her date with Lexa for the last two hours, but she was nowhere near ready. Sure, she had been calm whenever she talked about it with Octavia and Raven, but inside and behind closed doors, she had been flipping out. She was wondering if this was a good idea. If Lexa really wanted this. If she was ready to put her friendship with Lexa, which was still pretty new, on the line for this date.

"Clarke, sit your ass down. It's cold enough in here without you making a fucking tornado with all of your damn pacing." Octavia yawned. She had been taking a nap after a particularly difficult exam.

She huffed and sat down next to Octavia. In turn, Octavia dropped her head on Clarke's shoulder. She looped her arm through Clarke's and sighed in content," Now you need to relax because stressing out before a date is completely useless and you're not as soft when you're stressed."

"No fair, O. You're trying to use me as a pillow, and I have a date in....thirty minutes."

"Then that's twenty nine minutes for you to relax and talk about your problems before I can get back to my nap."

"Octavia." Clarke whined.

"Come on, Clarkey. What's so scary about going on a date with Lexa?"

"Just...because it's with Lexa."

"Please. She's probably freaking out more than you are."

Clarke scoffed," Right. I can't imagine Lexa freaking out over a date."

*****

Lexa was freaking out. She had changed her outfit five different times and still wasn't sure that she made the right choice. The only reason she was still wearing her v-neck and black skinny jeans was because Lincoln started laughing at her for changing her mind so many times. Then he started snapchatting Anya about her being a disaster four hours before her date. Lexa had huffed and stomped into the bathroom to put on her makeup.

Anya arrived at their house just as she started to pace.

"Oh, this is gold." Anya grinned and pulled out her phone. Lexa scowled and turned around, not wanting to deal with Anya now.

"She's been like this for the past hour, and she doesn't have to leave till six forty five." Lincoln said from the couch.

"An hour? The great commander has been panicking over a date for an _hour_?"

"Crazy, right?"

Lexa stopped and hit them both with a cushion from the couch. They both just laughed as she continued to pace. Her nerves just got worse and worse as she listened to the two of them tease her for her nerves. It was just after six when she finally dropped onto the couch, ready to cry and seconds from cancelling on Clarke.

"Whoa. Hey. What's wrong? You know we're just joking around with you, right?" Lincoln moved an inch or two closer to his sister.

She shrugged halfheartedly. Her hand was inching towards her pocket to grab her phone slow enough that no one would notice.

"You have nothing to worry about, kid. It's _Clarke_." Anya nudged her shoulder.

Her hand twitched at the name.

"What are you so nervous for? I've never seen someone make you so happy. Not even-"

Anya cut off at the writhing look Lexa shot at her.

"She's saying that you've never been so happy. Clarke is what's making you so happy, and you should not let her go any time soon. You hear her name, and you smile. You see her, and you glow. Don't let go of her, Lexa. Go on your date, laugh, have a good time. That's what you're supposed to do on dates. Be gross and in love. You deserve it." Lincoln gave her a crooked smile.

Tears welled up in Lexa's eyes. Her phone was in her hand, ready to cancel on Clarke at a moment's notice, but Lincoln's words slowly sunk in. No, she didn't fully believe them. She didn't think she deserved to be happy. But really, should couldn't resist seeing Clarke, and she honestly thought this might be a lot of fun for them both.

"See? Everything will be fine. Now go put on your shoes. You need to leave like two minutes ago." Anya said in the most gentle voice Lexa as ever heard come out of her mouth.

Shocked by Anya's tone and the time, Lexa hurried to slip into her shoes and leave. She waved at Lincoln and Anya then sprinted out the front door.

She wasn't sure if the thin, almost unnoticeable layer of sweat on her forehead was from the short run or from the nerves. There wasn't any time for her to stop and think about it. She was too busy staring at the door in front of her. There was almost a full minute before seven, so she was taking her time to panic while she can.

At seven on the dot, Lexa knocked without thinking. Her arm raised, her knuckles softly hit the door in front of her, and her mind started screaming.

Waiting at that door were the longest ten seconds of her life. Then the door opened, and her mind went silent. Clarke was standing there with a bright smile, but her eyes were full of nerves.

"Hi." Clarke whispered.

Lexa smiled and held out a hand. Clarke's hand found hers, and their fingers intertwined.

"Bye, O! See you later!" Clarke called.

"I better not, Griff. One of us better be getting laid." Octavia said. From the sound of her voice, Lexa decided she was on the couch.

Clarke's face turned bright red. She didn't bother saying anything to her friend and stepped into the hallway.

"So. Where are we going?"

Lexa grinned and shook her head.

"You're not telling me? Why not?" Clarke pouted.

Her grin just got bigger as she pulled Clarke downstairs and started in the direction of the park.

"If I guess it, will you tell me?" Clarke was still pouting.

Lexa thought about it and nodded, deciding that Clarke would never guess.

"A hike?"

_Why didn't I think of that?_ , Lexa chastised herself.

Lexa shook her head.

"A romantic walk through the park?"

Another shake of the head.

"A picnic?"

Lexa gave her a look.

"Yeah, I thought that one was out there. You think too much for us to go on another picnic so soon."

Lexa rolled her eyes. They left the park and continued closer to the more sketchy part of town.

"Okay, I'm officially out of ideas. Where are we going?" Clarke said, looking around. The neighborhood they were in consisted mostly of houses that looked slightly run down. Just past that was a small strip mall that looked like it was the victim of multiple robberies.

Lexa shook her head and led them to the strop mall. Clarke hesitated but didn't stop. Lexa's heart swelled when she realized that Clarke trusted her.

*****

" _Laser tag?_ "

Lexa nodded, biting her lip nervously.

Clarke definitely had been confused when Lexa led her to the part of the city she generally avoided, but she trusted her. Lexa didn't disappoint either. She hadn't even _known_ that there was a laser tag place around here. If she had, she definitely wouldn't be focusing on her studies and definitely would be playing laser tag at every opportunity she had. It had been one of her favorite things to do growing up, and she hadn't had the chance to go since her dad died.

She made a mental not to tell Octavia and Raven when she got home. The three of them were always on the same team, and they would definitely want to go as soon as possible.

She kissed Lexa on the cheek," This is perfect."

Lexa's eyebrows shot up, and she looked at Clarke in question. Clarke just smiled and pulled her over to the front desk.

Twenty minutes later, Clarke and Lexa were walking out of the "training" room and putting on their equipment. It took Lexa all of five seconds to slip into the heavy vest and unclip her gun from the front of it. When she turned around, Clarke smiled sheepishly.

"Mind helping me out? I'm not that great at putting on the this kind of stuff."

Lexa giggled softly and helped Clarke slip the vest over her head. Clarke wasn't sure why, but she'd never been able to get into laser tag gear without help. Raven and Octavia had taken turns helping her into her gear whenever they went.

"Remember. Both hands on the guns. No running or crawling. Have fun." The staff member opened the door to the shooting area. In front of them, a group of twenty twelve year olds and their parents ran inside. Lexa and Clarke went in after, quickly finding a place to hide.

"I hope you know we're not hiding here the whole time." Clarke whispered as she peered around the corner," I don't care if they're twelve. We're kicking _ass_ today."

Lexa smirked and nodded.

Over the next few minutes, the pair made their way through the area. At first, it was hard for both girls to focus. The area was completely black, lit by a black light. There were paint splatters all over everything so they could tell that they weren't just walking into walls. Between the neon paint splatters and the bright colors lit by the black light, the girls kept getting distracted. But after Lexa got shot for the third time, they both shook themselves into attack mode and became an unstoppable pair.

They impressed each other. Clarke was ready to carry some extra weight on their team, but she quickly realized she didn't need to. Lexa was dodging between corners and shooting down kids before they could raise their guns. Clarke was doing the same thing. They were back to back, making their way through the maze like arena to the other team's base.

Every once in a while, there would be a lull between children, and Clarke would glance over her shoulder at Lexa. Her eyebrows were pulled together in concentration. Her grip on her gun was tight, and her biceps were peaking out of her sleeves. At one point, Lexa glanced around. Her eyes landed on Clarke's, and for a moment, she was shocked. Then a crooked smile found its way on her lips, and her right eyebrow raised in question. Clarke just smiled and nodded.

A few minutes later, they were creeping down a small passage that opened to a brightly lit room. Well, a room covered in bright orange paint splatters. They grinned at each other and both shot at the LED lit dome in the corner. It flashed a few times and let out a couple robotic cries. They shot it a few more times for good measure before some kids on the other team ambushed them. It took a couple minutes to get out of that situation, and by the time they were tucked away in an empty corner of the arena, both of them were slightly out of breath.

Clarke was ready to throw herself back into the fight when the lights went up and parents and staff members started herding the children towards the exit. Her shoulders dropped, and her bottom lip poked out slightly. Lexa laughed and kissed her cheek before dragging her over to the exit.

"But I wanna keep playing." Clarke pouted.

Lexa just squeezed her hand and walked her towards the giant screams with their teams and player stats on them. It took a couple minutes for them to find their names, but Clarke tackled Lexa in a hug when they found out that the two of them not only had the highest scores, but their team had one from the attack on the base alone.

"This was amazing." Clarke whispered before briefly pressing her lips to Lexa's cheek.

Lexa blushed and pulled a note out of her pocket.

_We're not done yet. There's one more part to the night ___

__Clarke looked at her in shock but nodded. They quickly left the laser tag place. Lexa pulled Clarke back in the direction of their apartments. Clarke didn't want to admit it to Lexa, but she was glad that they weren't spending any more time in that neighborhood._ _

__It took twenty minutes for the pair to walk to a small restaurant tucked between a bookshop and a gym. Clarke was too busy looking around to see Lexa greet the hostess with a hug. They were led to a table in the back where it was much quieter in the slightly crowded diner. If Clarke was being honest, she was surprised that it was so busy. The place was relatively hidden, and the interior was dimly lit, so it was harder to notice, especially this late._ _

__"Have you been here before?" Clarke asked after the hostess chatted at Lexa for a couple moments._ _

__Lexa shook her head._ _

__"You know her, then?"_ _

__Lexa pulled out a pen and scribbled out an explanation about her aunt owning six restaurants on a napkin._ _

__"Holy shit, Lex. How did I not know about that?"_ _

__Lexa shrugged._ _

__"Are they all the same?"_ _

__She shook her head._ _

__"Do you have a favorite?"_ _

__After a couple seconds of contemplating, Lexa slowly nodded and wrote "it's a long story" on her napkin._ _

__"Okay, fair. We don't have to talk about it."_ _

__Lexa smiled gratefully as the waitress came over to take their order._ _

__They ended up playing multiple games of Hangman that night. It was mostly for fun, but they also did it as a get-to-know-you game, despite knowing each other for a couple months now._ _

__By the time Lexa walked Clarke home, they they laughing at a story Clarke was telling from high school._ _

__"Tonight was perfect, Lex." Clarke said softly when they got to her front door._ _

__Lexa gave her a relieved smile. They stood in silence for about a second before they both went in for a soft kiss. One became two. Two became five. Soon, they were just standing in the hall, softly kissing each other._ _

__"Come inside." Clarke whispered._ _

__Lexa nodded and let Clarke pulled her into the apartment. Luckily, they were met with silence. Clarke smirked and grabbed the front of Lexa's shirt. Lexa looked like a lost puppy for about half a second before a smirk took over her face. Their lips met again, this time much more hungry than in the hallway. Clarke started backing towards her room, Lexa's shirt still gripped in her hand._ _


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An appearance from the Delinquents! Also, this is a filler chapter because I've been having major writer's block!! And shit is happening in my life so. Probably gonna be a while between updates.

For as long as she could remember, Lexa liked to count. Leaves on trees. Birds in the sky. Kids running around the park. She counted whatever she could whenever she could.

Today, she counted the number of breaths before the blonde beauty in front of her woke up. Before she felt her stirring in her arms and her fingers tighten around her hands.

Thirty six.

"I know you're awake, Lex." Clarke said sleepily.

Lexa's arms tightened around Clarke's waist. She buried her nose in Clarke's curls.

"As much as I would love to lay here with you all day, you need to get ready to go, and I need to shower."

Lexa whined just loud enough for Clarke to giggled and turn around to kiss her nose.

"Come on. I'll even make you breakfast."

At the promise of breakfast, Lexa smiled. She kissed Clarke for just a couple seconds before the blonde pulled away, kissed her nose again, and got out of bed to get dressed. Lexa followed before, grabbing her jeans and shirt from the night before.

"Do pancakes sound okay?" Clarke asked as Lexa slipped into her shirt.

Lexa looked around and grabbed the dry erase board Clarke had kept near her bed.

_Pancakes are ALWAYS okay_

Clarke laughed and nodded," Pancakes it is. Come on. Time for breakfast."

Lexa was out the door before Clarke was.

"Babe, you have to wait for me to make the pancakes."

Both of them froze when they realized the word that just came out of Clarke's mouth.

"I...uh..."

Lexa kissed her soundly and looked in Clarke's eyes. She brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and let her finger trail down her cheek.

"Okay. Come on. I have pancakes to make."

*****

"So. How was the date?" Anya asked as they walked into the gym just an hour later.

Lexa glanced at her and shrugged, knowing that it would drive Anya crazy.

"You're kidding me, right? You're not going to tell me about the date that you were flipping the fuck out about for hours?"

She spent a couple seconds pretending to think about it. In those few seconds, Anya stomped her foot in frustration.

"Lexa!"

Lexa laughed and shook her head. She waved at Anya to move away from the sparring pairs and sat down on a bench near their things. Lexa grabbed out a small board from her bag and quickly wrote out what happened the night before. Leaving out a few details, of course. Anya rolled her eyes but still said she was happy for her cousin.

"I have one question. Where did you sleep last night?"

Lexa looked at her in confusion.

"Lincoln and Octavia stayed with me and Raven last night because they didn't want to risk you and Clarke going to either apartment and banging all night. I think Octavia's exact words were 'Clarke isn't quiet, and I'm pretty sure she could make Lexa scream her name too'."

A look of absolute horror passed over Lexa's face.

"So where did you sleep? You didn't tell me anything about after you guys left the restaurant."

Lexa shrugged.

"Seriously? You're not going to tell me? That means you either did the dirty or you kissed her on the cheek and slept in different beds."

Again, Lexa shrugged. She was glad that she had a lot of time to practice hiding emotions. She definitely didn't want Anya knowing about her sex life.

The two of them stared at each other for a long time. Anya just got frustrated after a few minutes because she couldn't get a read on Lexa. The older girl told Lexa that she probably did the kiss on the cheek at the end of her date before stomping away and dragging Lincoln off to spar. Lexa chuckled and went to go work on some lifting with loose weights.

Anya popped up twenty minutes later with Lincoln at her side," Look who's here."

Lexa glanced towards the front door and felt her heart jump out of her chest.

"I'll give you fifty bucks if you can get Clarke to kiss you."

Lexa grabbed her nearby board and wrote 'done'.

"Well, that's an easy fifty for me. You're too chicken to do it."

She erased the message and wrote out _I meant done as in "been there done that". Where's my fifty?_

Anya's jaw dropped. Lincoln burst out laughing. Lexa smirked and dropped her board onto her bag before turning to meet Clarke, who was walking in their direction.

"Hey. You forgot something at my place this morning, and I thought I'd stop by to bring it to you." Clarke said, blushing slightly.

Lexa tilted her head slightly. She was sure she didn't forget anything. She'd worn her clothes home, and she had her phone and wallet. What could she possibly-

Clarke moved a little close and kissed her briefly," Okay, so I wanted an excuse to see you. And kiss you. And I wanted to ask if you wanted to go on another date? Only I'll plan it this time. But I don't know if I can do nearly as well as you because you kind of made it perfect last night and I-"

She was cut off by a kiss from Lexa. Longer than the one before.

"I take it that was a yes?" Clarke said, slightly out of breath.

Lexa grinned and nodded before going in for one more quick kiss.

"Okay, I'll stop distracting you. Get back to your workout or whatever it is you were doing. Text me later, okay?"

With one more nod and kiss from Lexa, Clarke left. Lexa held back her smirk as she walked over to her stuff and grabbed her dry erase board one more time.

_That was four kisses. Gonna give me $200?_

Lincoln was laughing so hard that he was crying on the ground. Anya was grinding her teeth and bright red. Lexa just gave her a smug look.

*****

After leaving the gym, Clarke decided to go to the park for a while. It was a nice day, and she liked to spend days like today in the park, drawing whatever came out of her pencil.

Today, it started as a few sketches of some guys throwing around a frisbee. Then it was of an elderly couple slowly making their way down the path. And as she sketched, her mind wandered to wherever it wanted. She was too busy enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin and the breeze through her hair to care about anything else. She loved the smell of snow that would be coming soon and the colors of the leaves that were falling from the trees. The flurry of activity meant there was no shortage of inspiration.

So when she heard a few familiar voices arguing, she deflated slightly and looked around for her friends. Basically all of the Delinquents were walking towards her. Raven, Bellamy, and Octavia were the only ones not in the group. Monty and Jasper were in the front, arguing about something that sounded suspiciously like the location of their moonshine stash. Miller and Bryan were whispering about something, but they didn't look too happy. Harper, Maya, and Monroe were happily chatting away, ignoring their arguing friends. Murphy was leading up the back of the group with someone Clarke had never seen before, and he was arguing louder than anyone else- as usual.

"What did you just call me?" He all but shouted.

The whole group turned and looked at him with frowns. But the girl next to him just raised her eyebrows and rose her voice a bit.

"A giant eared cretin. I bet elephants get together and make fun of how big your ears are."

All the guys in the group snorted and laughed. The girls rolled their eyes and went back to their conversation. Murphy's scowl deepened," And what website did you steal that insult front? Because you definitely did not come up with it yourself."

The girl opened her mouth, but Jasper and Monty both gasped.

"How do you not know what that's from?" Monty breathed.

"What?" Murphy said.

"The Last Airbender, Murphy. It's from Avatar the Last Airbender." Jasper said desperately.

"I don't even know what that is."

Maya rolled her eyes," You're not missing much."

Jasper's jaw dropped," You betray me."

Clarke slowly slipped her sketch book into her bag and tried to creep away. The group had yet to notice her, and she didn't really want to get dragged into this conversation. But of course the universe hates her. She had gotten no more than three steps before Jasper was calling her name and demanding that she help them settle the argument. She spent the next hour avoiding actually giving an answer to just about every question they asked her. All she wanted to do was sketch in peace, and that never happened with her friends around. She was always dragged into these debates, and today she just wasn't in the mood for it.

An arm wrapped around her waist, and Clarke was ready to punch the owner of said arm in the throat until she actually turned her head.

"Hey. Just finish up at the gym?"

Lexa nodded.

"Um. Hey, guys? Sorry, but I have to go. Lexa and I have plans. I was just waiting for her to finish up." Clarke lied.

She was met with a lot of complaint and more arguments sprouting up. Clarke turned to Lexa," It's probably best if we just ran. Right now. Because this will never end."

Lexa glanced at the group behind Clarke and nodded. They didn't even acknowledge them as they hurried in the direction of Lexa's apartment.

*****

Lexa was curled up in a ball on Anya's couch. They were having a scary movie marathon with Lincoln while everyone else was home. It was Thanksgiving break, and their family was currently out of the country for business. They didn't mind. Especially because Anya was about to start an internship for a company near campus in the next few weeks, and she wasn't sure if she would have time to prepare after break. Lincoln said that there were some things he needed to sort out over break, but he didn't tell Lexa or Anya what was it was that he needed to decide. Lexa just wanted an excuse to get ahead on her readings for class since there were a lot of them this semester.

They were halfway through a movie when Anya sighed, evidently bored with the movie, to go take a shower.

"We haven't really talked a lot lately, Lex. Everything okay?" Lincoln said when Anya was gone.

Lexa nodded.

"Everything good with Clarke?"

Again, she nodded.

"Good. I just. I wanted to make sure. She seems like she's good for you. I haven't seen you this happy ever. Hold onto her, okay?"

Lexa frowned.

_You okay, Lincoln?_

"Yeah. I just wanted to check in. You know, make sure everything was good with you."

_What about you? How are things with Octavia?_

His entire face lit up," She's amazing. She's just...I'm so lucky to have her, you know? Like she listens. And she can hold her own about everything against anyone. She's got this fire. Like she's ready to fight someone at all times, and she'll stand by you no matter what. I just. I love her. So much."

_I'm really happy for you, Linc. You deserve to be happy. Octavia is perfect for you._

"Thanks, Lex."

_You know that I still know something's wrong, right?_

"I know."

_As long as we're on the same page. I'm here when you want to talk, okay?_

Lincoln nodded. Lexa smiled and nudged her shoulder a little. He chuckled slightly and played with his shirt nervously. Anya came back a few minutes later.

"Seriously? This movie still? Can we watch something else?"

"No. You chose it. I don't care how shitty it is. You have to deal with the consequences." Lincoln said, eyes on the screen once again.

Anya whined as she dropped back down on the couch. Lexa laughed and earned herself a punch to the shoulder.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well
> 
> It's been awhile.
> 
> Sorry about that. Life sucks. I'll try to update more often but no promises.

Three trees on her right.

Two benches on the left side of the path.

Four flower beds in sight.

Seven kids running around on the playground.

"Lexa. Look at me."

Six geese flying above her head.

"Lexa, I swear to god."

She looked at Clarke.

"Thank you. Now do you want me to answer your question or are you going to run away again?"

Lexa looked down at her shoes. Nothing to count there. She already counted the weaves of her shoelaces.

"Lexa."

She glanced up again, still ashamed that the first sentence she managed in _years_ was her blurting out-

"Yes."

Her eyes furrowed in confusion. Lexa looked up and found herself staring in clear blue eyes.

"I said yes. I was going to. It's always been a yes, Lexa. I want to be your girlfriend. Honestly, I don't know why you were worried. We've been dating for almost a month. This is kind of just a formality."

Lexa felt her cheeks flare up.

Clarke giggled and reached out, letting her thumb run across Lexa's cheek," You are the cutest nerd in the world."

Lexa huffed.

"Oh I'm sorry. You are the cutest badass in the world. Better?"

She shook her head, a pout still present on her lips.

Clarke laughed," You're just proving my point with the pout."

Lexa growled somewhere in the back of her throat and looked at the ground in front of her feet, thinking about the last hour or so.

_"I don't know why you haven't asked her yet, Lexa."_

_Lexa shrugged at her cousin._

_"Time to get serious. Put on your game face, Heda."_

_Anya stared at her cousin for a couple seconds and shook her head._

_"Not your gay face. Your game face."_

_Lexa scoffed and grabbed her board, writing out "it's the same face!"._

_There was a knock on the door, leaving Lexa pale. Anya hopped to her feet," Well, it better work because you're asking her right now."_

_Lexa quickly erased her board and stood up to answer the door._

_"Hey, Lex." Clarke smiled. She kissed Lexa's cheek._

_Lexa smiled for about half a second before Anya interrupted._

_"Hey, Blondie. I was just leaving."_

_"Oh. Um, hi, Anya. I guess I'll see you later?"_

_"Sure. But probably not. Don't have too much fun. Later."_

_And Anya was gone. Lexa's head was hanging, burning red in embarrassment._

_"Come on, babe. We have some studying to do."_

_They sat on the couch and started working on their homework. Well, Clarke started working on her homework. Lexa stared at her textbook for five minutes before scraping up the courage to put her hand over Clarke's. Clarke looked up in question._

_Lexa opened her mouth and struggled for a couple seconds, not sure if she could go through with it. She saw Clarke's eyes widen ever so slightly at the sight of her open mouth._

_"Take your time, Lex. You don't have to speak if you don't want to."_

_Tears welled up in Lexa's eye for a couple seconds. She smiled at the girl and looked down for a couple seconds, the sound of Clarke's voice resonating in her ears._

_"Willyoubemygirlfriend?" Lexa blurted out._

_Clarke wasn't able to hide the shock from her face this time. Lexa felt like her entire body was on fire at this point. And when Clarke didn't respond right away, she got even more flustered and all but sprinted out the front door._

"Let's go, baby. We barely even started studying, and we both have exams coming up." Clarke slipped her hand into Lexa's. Lexa nodded and let Clarke pull her back to her apartment.

"Also, you're lucky that I know where your spare key is. Otherwise your apartment would be unlocked, and someone could have broken in."

Lexa rolled her eyes. They went back inside, and Lexa managed to actually make a dent in the homework she had been avoiding for a couple days. Their study session lasted a grand total of two hours and eighteen minutes before Clarke sighed and pushed her book from her lap to the floor. Lexa frowned at the book on the ground and looked up at Clarke.

"I read the same sentence twenty times, and I'm blaming you for me not knowing what it said at all." Clarke said.

Lexa's frown just go deeper. She hadn't done anything but homework, so she couldn't figure out how it could possibly be her fault that Clarke didn't understand a sentence in her textbook.

Everything became clear about five seconds later. They had stared at each other for a few seconds. Lexa was biting her lip, trying to figure out the situation, when Clarke lunged forward. Lexa found herself getting pushed back against the couch, Clarke straddling her hips. She gasped slightly when Clarke slowly kissed along her jaw and down her neck. Lexa's hands wandered down from Clarke's waist to her hips.

In a matter of moments, Lexa's books were on the floor, she was laying across the couch, and Clarke was on top of her, hands slowly drifting down her stomach. Lexa felt a shift in the fabric of her shirt, and Clarke's hand was suddenly grazing against her skin. There was a fault in her breathing when the fabric of her shirt started to move higher and higher until suddenly, her shirt was on the ground. Clarke's followed right after. Lexa's fingers were tangled in blonde curls, and her lips were starting to swell with Clarke's lips moving against hers.

"Seriously? The couch, Lexa? I thought that was off limits."

Clarke groaned and sat up, still straddling Lexa's hips. Lexa, now red in the face, had an arm draped over her eyes to shield out the world.

"Clarke, put on a shirt. As great as the girls are, you should probably save them for Lexa."

"I agree with Octavia and am obligated as your brother, Lexa, to tell Anya and never let you live this down."

Lexa's hand flew in the air, flipping Lincoln the bird.

"I literally hate both of you." Clarke grumbled.

"Love you too, Griff. Now can you please put on a shirt? Or relocate to Lexa's room? I have shows to watch."

"You just want to watch the Bachelor." Clarke rolled her eyes and scooped her shirt off the floor. It was only a few seconds after he shirt was in place that she realized Lexa was still very red and very shirtless.

"Sorry, babe. Here."

Lexa quickly slipped into her shirt and gave Clarke a look.

"What?"

Lexa raised an eyebrow.

"Clarke, stop straddling my sister." Lincoln said from the kitchen.

"Oh. Sorry." Clarke climbed off Lexa and pulled her to her feet.

They were halfway down the hall when Octavia stopped them.

"Now now. Clean up your mess, children. No fornicating under my roof."

"Oh my god, Octavia. It's not even your roof." Clarke sighed in exasperation.

"I don't care. Come get your damn books. They remind me of school and make me sad."

Lexa rolled her eyes and quickly gathered her things. Clarke was a little slower but did the same.

"Living room is clean, _mom_. We're going to Lexa's room now."

"Don't sass your mother!" Octavia scoffed.

"Open door policy, young lady!" Lincoln called.

Lexa slammed the door shut and dropped onto her bed.

*****

Clarke frowned at her phone.

"What's with your face, Griff?" Raven asked, string cheese hanging out of her mouth.

"Lincoln's calling me."

"Okay, well, to answer, you have to swipe the green spot on the screen-"

"I didn't even know Lincoln had my number."

"Big deal. Answer the damn phone."

Clarke went to answer it but missed the call by a second. Then Raven's phone started to ring.

"Sup, Linc?"

Not thirty seconds later, Raven hung up the phone and groaned," Come on, Griff."

"Where are we going?"

"To make sure our girlfriends don't actually kill each other. O!"

"What?" Octavia said from down the hall.

"We're going to Lincoln and Lexa's. Want to come?"

There was a crash and a scuffle, then Octavia popped up in the hall with a smile," Yep! Let's go."

"Cool. Hurry up, Griff. They might actually kill each other."

"I'm so confused." Clarke said.

"Just put your shoes on and let's go see our girlfriends and boyfriend."

Grumbling under her breath, Clarke grabbed her shoes and left with her fiends. Twenty minutes later, Raven had her phone out and recording as they pushed into the apartment.

In all honesty, Clarke wasn't surprised to see Lexa punching and kicking Anya while stuck in a a choke hold. She also was not surprised to see Lincoln hovering next to a wall with a bowl of popcorn and an anxious expression on his face.

Raven, Octavia, and Clarke were quiet for a solid fifteen seconds before Raven got bored.

"So...what _exactly_ are you fighting for?"

The girls barely glanced in their direction before Lexa broke the choke hold and the pair started wrestling on the ground.

"Anya lost a bet and owes Lexa money. She hasn't paid up, and that best was over forever ago." Lincoln said.

Octavia skipped over to him, kissed his cheek, and stole some popcorn," How much money?"

"Two hundred."

Octavia choked on her food.

" _Alexandria Woods_."

Lexa froze. Anya wiggled out of her grip and made a beeline to her girlfriend. Lexa scrambled to her feet as Clarke stepped forward.

"You bet _two hundred dollars_?"

"Technically, she bet fifty, and I lost four times." Anya muttered.

"How did you lose one bet four times?" Raven asked.

Lincoln burst out laughing," Tell her. Oh my god, tell her. Please. I want to so Clarke's face when she finds out."

Clarke glared at Lincoln.

Anya sighed," I bet Lexa fifty bucks that she couldn't get Clarke to kiss her the day after their first date. Then Clarke walked into the gym and there were like four kisses, and Lexa said I owed her two hundred. But I don't think I owe her that much because I said kiss. I didn't say fifty a kiss."

Lexa growled and started to stalk towards Anya until Clarke froze her with a glare again.

Clarke pinched the bridge of her nose," First of all, I can't believe you made a bet about us _kissing_. Second, you're in trouble for making that bet, Lexa. Third, you owe her two hundred for making that bet and being unclear in your terms. Fourth-"

"Is there an end to this list?" Anya said.

"Yeah. Somewhere around item forty. After I've scolded Lincoln for being involved, Octavia for stealing his food, Raven for recording-"

"And I'm bored of this conversation." Anya rolled her eyes.

Clarke just glared at her.

"Come on, babe. Let's go home before Clarke decides to kill you with her eye daggers." Raven pulled at Anya's arm.

"I'd like to see her try."

Anya ended up letting Raven pull her out of the apartment before Clarke's anger got the best of her. Octavia and Lincoln slipped away to hide in his room. Clarke stomped off to Lexa's room, and Lexa quickly followed. Lexa sat on her bed while Clarke paced for a few silent moments. When she finally stopped, she got to her knees in front of Lexa.

"Are you hurt?"

She shook her head.

"Are you sure? No cuts or scrapes? Pulled muscles? Nothing sore? I know you and Anya were fighting for a while."

Lexa brushed a strand of Clarke's hair behind her ear, reassuring Clarke that she was okay.

"Good. And you're still in trouble for making that bet."

She pouted.

"Don't give me that, young lady. You're the one betting on kissing me. Did you even tell her that we kissed on our date?"

Lexa shook her head.

Clarke stared at her for a while, trying to figure out what was going on in Lexa's head.

"I think I know why. And I get it. But no kisses for you for a week."

Lexa pouted even more.

"Fine. For as long as I can hold out. Just because you're cute and I don't want to see you pout."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, if there's anything you want to see happen in this fic, leave it in the comments. I'll see what I can do. It'll probably motivate me to update more frequently


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned! Because I got an email notification from this story and remembered it existed! And I'm in a better place in life and have been wanting to write again! So I edited any small errors I saw in the previous chapters, became kind of inspired, and wrote this in about 3 hours while working. Sorry if it's not fantastic. I don't have time to edit and would rather get something out there for you.
> 
> I don't really remember where I was heading with this story so it will be 100% whatever my fingers decides needs to go where unless my brain decides that my fingers are stupid. In which case, I'm sorry if this story takes off in some weird direction and makes no sense. That's what my life feels like right now, so that's what the story will probably become.
> 
> Also, I'm sorry it's short. Again, I'm at work. I tried to make it longer but I can't right now. I'll try to make it up in the next chapter.

Lexa had been worried about Lincoln ever since Thanksgiving. He’d been distant, quiet. She’d caught him staring into space much more frequently, and he always took a few seconds to arrange a smile on his face and reassure her that everything was okay.

Today, he wasn’t responding. Today, he wasn’t just staring into space. He was pacing. He was muttering to himself.

Today, he was crying.

Lexa hurried over to him and stopped him in front of the couch. He stopped, looked at her, and dissolved into tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. We didn’t mean for it to happen.” He muttered into her shoulder.

She didn’t know what he was talking about. She didn’t know who ‘we’ was. She didn’t know what was going on. She was just concerned that her rock of a brother was sobbing into her shoulder like he’d just committed the worst crime he can commit.

So she held him and rubbed his back and tried to calm him for about an hour. When he sniffled and hiccuped a ‘sorry’, she grabbed her board.

_What’s going on, Linc?_

He sunk into the couch, dropping his face into his hands.

“Octavia probably hates me.”

_Why would she hate you?_

He took a shuddering breath, and tears started to pour down his cheeks again.

_Did you break up with her?_

“No! God, no! I’m afraid she’s going to break up with me.”

_Lincoln, you’re scaring me. What happened?_

He whimpered slightly as he looked at his said and whispered,” She’s pregnant, Lex. I got her pregnant.”

Lexa dropped her board on the ground and hugged her brother. He started sobbing again, clinging to her for dear life.

“She hates me. I know she hates me. I know she didn’t want a baby. I was so careful. I don’t know how it happened. One of the condoms most have broken.” Lincoln kept sobbing.

Lexa softly shushed him and held him tighter, hoping that he could feel her reassurance. She knew Lincoln wasn’t ready for a baby. She knew Octavia wasn’t either. But she also knew that Octavia probably didn’t hate him. The two of them had not only been inseparable, but they had been so loving and accommodating for each other during the hardest parts of the semester. They hadn’t gotten into real fights, only ever fighting about whose apartment they were going to sleep at.

After Lincoln had cried for two full hours, Lexa texted Anya and Clarke. Anya showed up in a matter of minutes, and Clarke confirmed that Octavia was torn up and afraid that Lincoln was going to leave her too.

Lexa (12:53): Did she tell you what’s wrong?

Clarke G (12:55): Yes. Did Lincoln tell you?

Lexa (1:01): Yes. He hasn’t stopped crying in hours. He could barely tell me.

Clarke G (1:09): What are we going to do?

Lexa (1:10): Be there for them. Help them through whatever decision they make. Be their support system, I suppose. We need to get them to talk to each other.

Clarke G (1:15): How are we supposed to do that?

Lexa (1:30): Leave that to me. We’ll be there in an hour.

*****

Octavia had woken Clarke up that morning. She was crying and blubbering that she didn’t know what to do. It took Clarke almost three hours to understand what was going on, and when she found out, she called Raven and spent the morning in her bed with a crying Octavia. Raven arrived in five minutes and squeezed on the other side of Octavia.

“You know we’re going to be here for you know matter what, right, O?” Raven said calmly.

Octavia wiggled until she had turned to face Raven, a whole new set of tears overtaking her.

“I’m sorry I kept ditching you for Lincoln. I’ve missed you so much, and I knew that I was doing it, but I’ve had this sneaking feeling that something was off, and that’s why I’ve been spending so much time with him lately. I’m so sorry, Rae. Please don’t hate me.”

“I could never hate you, O. I get it. You did what you had to do, and I can’t be mad at that.” Raven held her tighter.

“I promise, I won’t miss our next lunch. And I’ll pay for you.”

Raven shook her head,” Save your money. Lunch is on me from now on.”

“What? Rae, no. That’s so expensive.”

“So are babies. You save your money, I’ll feed you, and when I’m a world famous mechanic and inventor, I can spoil my niece or nephew.”

Octavia let out a watery laugh,” I can’t believe this happened.”

Clarke ran her fingers through Octavia’s hair,” It happens. It’s scary. But we’re here all you need.”

“This isn’t scary.” Octavia said.

“It’s not?” Raven frowned.

“I mean it is, but it’s not as scary as the other thing.”

“What other thing?” Clarke asked.

“Telling Bell.”

Raven and Clarke looked at each other,” Oh shit.”

*****

Lexa knew that getting Lincoln out of the house would be easy. The hard part was getting him to keep going when he realized where she was taking them.

“Come on, Lincoln. You need to talk to her.” Anya said gently.

“What if she breaks up with me?” He said miserably, standing outside the apartment building.

“She won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“She loves you too much.”

“But how do you know?”

“Lincoln, you need to talk to her. We’re not going to stand out here and debate this. She’s not going to break up with you. Just go and talk to her. Support her. She needs you right now, and you need to be in your child’s life. Now stop being a _branwada_ and go up there and talk to your girlfriend.” Anya growled.

Lincoln’s chin trembled, and he looked at the ground,” I don’t know if I can face her.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve probably ruined her life.”

“No, you know what will ruin her life? If you leave and make her raise a baby without their father. You need to puff up your chest, go in there, tell her you love her and that you’ll always be there, and talk to her about the situation that you both are in, got it? I don’t want to force you, but I know you are not the kind of person to run from your problems. Go in there. Face your problems with the girl you love because you not talking to her is the problem. Got it?”

Lincoln, looking extremely downtrodden, nodded.

Lexa put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He gave her a half-hearted smile and looked at the building. Lincoln spent about five more minutes silently gaining the strength to move forward before he took his first step with Lexa and Anya at his side.

*****

“Are you expecting someone?” Raven asked.

“I’ll get the door. You guys stay here and keep watching the movie.” Clarke gave the popcorn bowl to Octavia.

She hurried to the door and found a teary-eyed Lincoln, shadowed by Lexa and Anya.

“She’s on the couch.” She said soft enough that Octavia wouldn’t hear.

“I’m sorry, Clarke.” He whimpered softly.

“Don’t apologize, Linc. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She gave him a quick hug,” Now go. She needs you.”

He nodded, took a shaky breath, and walked over to the couch,” Octavia?”

Clarke turned around after she saw her friend jump off the couch and into his arms.

“Thank you, Lexa.”

Lexa nodded once.

“And you, Anya. Thank you for getting him here.”

“It wasn’t easy.” Anya grumbled.

“Yeah, it took a lot of coaxing to get O out of my bed and onto the couch.”

“I’m not surprised.” Anya walked away to sit next to Raven.

Clarke turned back to Lexa,” Seriously, thank you for getting him here.”

Lexa shrugged like it was nothing.

“Come in. Now that Lincoln’s here, I think it’s time I made real food.”

Lexa nodded and followed Clarke into the kitchen.

They spent the next hour making french toast, bacon, and eggs. Raven and Anya had wandered in, wanting to give Lincoln and Octavia space to talk without the added pressure of people listening in. They even helped make food and ran out to get eggs when Clarke ran out. By the time the food was done, Clarke was starting to feel anxious.

“I don’t want to go out there if they’re still talking. I don’t want to interrupt them.” She rambled. Lexa just softly pulled Clarke in for a hug. Clarke wrapped her arms around Lexa and felt herself slowly relax.

“I don’t want them to break up. Not for the baby. Just because they’re good for each other. I don’t want this to come between them.” Clarke muttered.

She didn’t say it, but Lexa heard the other reason. _I don’t want their break up to change our relationship._

Lexa pulled back and kissed Clarke’s forehead. They stood in the kitchen wrapped around each other for a bit longer before Raven and Anya returned with eggs. They separated, made a few more eggs, and set everything in serving bowls.

“I’m going to go check on them.” Anya announced.

Lexa and Clarke were both more than slightly relieved that they didn’t have to interrupt the conversation.

Raven kissed her cheek and stood back while Anya left the kitchen.

“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t go, Rae.”

“You know I’m not good with emotions. Anya and I were talking about it at the store. She said she would go because if I felt uncomfortable doing it, you two most definitely would.”

“That’s...unexpectedly kind of her.” Clarke glanced at Lexa, who shrugged in confusion.

“Don’t get me wrong. She has a big heart. But she hates emotions more than I do. Why do you think we’re so good together?”

“I don’t think that makes sense, Raven.”

“Love doesn’t make sense, Griff.”

Clarke was saved from having to respond to that by Anya walking back in the room looking sick.

“Are you okay, Anya?” Clarke said in concern.

“They’re being cute and gross and talking about their baby.” She shuddered and leaned against the counter. Raven patted her shoulder sympathetically.

“Did you tell them that good is ready?” Clarke asked.

“I started to, but they asked me if I liked Michael or Jacob better for a boy’s name.”

Raven scoffed,” They’re going with stereotypical names?”

“What, like you can do better?”

“I’m Raven Reyes. Of course I can do better.”

“You be sure to tell them that.”

“I will!” Raven marched into the living room with a loud “hey!”, Anya hurrying after her.

“I don’t think I want to wait for them anymore. I’m starving. All I’ve had to eat is a handful of popcorn.” Clarke told Lexa.

Lexa nodded and pulled out her phone. _I was getting cereal this morning when I saw Lincoln pacing and talking to himself._

Octavia and Raven started yelling baby names at each other as the two of them started eating their french toast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Let me know what you think! Sorry this was kinda angsty! I'll try to make the next one super fluff and super Clexa!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *****TRIGGER WARNING*****  
> Homophobia; slurs; minor violence
> 
> If you want to skip that, I have two notes in the chapter so you know when it's safe to read again. It's not too long of a part.

Lexa and Clarke got yelled at for eating without everyone else.

Clarke responded with “Bennett is a good name for a boy” and dragged Lexa to her room.

As soon as Clarke shut the door, she huffed and flopped on her bed,” Is it bedtime yet?”

Lexa sat next to her and ran her fingers through her girlfriend’s hair.

Clarke hummed softly at the feeling then sat up,” Want to go do something? I don’t know what, but now I feel like I shouldn’t be home.”

Lexa gnawed on her lip and pulled out her phone. _I have an idea. If you trust me._

“That’s vague and slightly terrifying. Let do it.” Clarke stood up and headed toward her door, but Lexa grabbed her hand before she got more than two steps away.

_You’ll want to change into some workout clothes._

“Why?”

_Trust me._

“Still vague and slightly terrifying, babe.”

Lexa just kissed her on the cheek and gave her an innocent smile.

A huff and two minutes later, they were on their way to Lexa’s house so she could change her clothes too. As soon as Lexa changed, she grabbed a bag and started filling it with things that Clarke couldn’t quite see. In less than five minutes, Lexa was pulling her out of the apartment and down the street. She was beyond confused about where they were going until Lexa was pulling her into a building.

“Why are we at your gym?” Clarke asked hesitantly.

Lexa bit her lip and pulled out her phone. _Is this okay? Me teaching you some basics? It’s fun. A good way to release tension._

Clarke was shocked. She hadn’t even considered learning mixed martial arts. Sure, she was impressed when Lexa told her about it, but she as always too busy admiring Lexa from her intense passion for it. Not thinking about learning it herself.

The thought of learning mixed martial arts was scary, but learning it from Lexa was amazing.

“You want me to learn?”

_Is that okay? We don’t have to. I just thought we could share this._

“Lexa, this is amazing. Yes. Show me. Teach me.”

And it was amazing. Clarke was elated beyond words that Lexa wanted to share this part of her life with her. All of Lexa lit up when Clarke told her to teach her. They spent the better part of three hours going over the basics and practicing with lighter exercises.

_You’re a natural, Clarke._ Lexa typed out with a smile. They were leaving the gym, water bottles in hand.

“Am I really?”

Lexa nodded, taking a drink of water.

“I think I just have an amazing teacher.”

Lexa shook her head. _You’re a natural. Anyone can learn with time, but you’ve practically mastered the basics in a matter of hours. Even Anya would be impressed._

“That’s a major compliment right there. Want to do this again? I want to practice and spar with Anya some day.”

Lexa laughed. _We can do it again, but I don’t know if you’ll ever want to spar with Anta. She’s persistent and plays very dirty._

“Even better.”

_Whatever you say, babe_

Clarke smacked a kiss on Lexa’s cheek and took another swig of water.

***********SKIP AHEAD************* 

“Hey, Clarke!” A voice called out from ahead of them.

Clarke choked on her water and sent herself into a coughing fit.

“Oh. Finn. H-hey.” She managed after a minute or two.

“You okay there?” He said with a smirk.

“I’m fine.”

“So you never texted me back.”

“That was like three months ago, Finn.”

“I’m a patient guy. Why haven’t you texted me though? I thought we had a good night.”

“You’re just not my type. Plus, a lot has changed since then, and I’m currently in a relationship. So if you will be so kind as to leave, we have somewhere to be.” She grabbed Lexa’s hand and tried to go around him, but Finn stepped closer to her, in her path. He was just inches from her. Her face twitched in irritation, and she took a couple steps back.

“Who is he? I bet I’m better than him in every way.” Finn said with an arrogant smirk.

“ _She_ is standing right here. And she is infinitely better than you in every way. Now I’m going to ask you nicely one more time. Please move so we can get on with our day.”

But Finn was laughing,” Right. You’re telling me that you’re a lesbian? After the night we had, I don’t believe that for one second.”

“I’m not a lesbian. I’m bisexual. And I happen to not care what you think. Now get out of my way.” Clarke growled.

Finn just frowned,” You can’t tell me what to do. Why are you being such a bitch?”

Clarke had barely opened her mouth when Lexa stepped in front of her, eyes blazing with an almost murderous glow. Clarke’s heart started pounding erratically when she heard a low, all too familiar voice growl out,” Move.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Finn stepped up to Lexa, his whole body almost pressed against hers.

Lexa’s teeth were bared ever so slightly. When she didn’t back down, Finn kept going.

“Get out of my face, you overprotective dyke. I can beat your ass if I wanted to.”

“Um...Finn? I wouldn’t-” Clarke tried.

“Shut up. This is your fault.” He snarled,” If you had just texted me back, this _bitch_ wouldn’t be in my face, and we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Finn kept working himself up, and when Lexa didn’t take his bait, he got more angry until he finally pushed her. She started to grind her teeth and clench her fists. Finn goaded her more.

Under her breath, Clarke her Lexa mutter something that sounded unfamiliar. Finn saw her mouth move and started shouting.

“What the fuck did you say to me? Do you want to fucking fight? I’ll beat you so hard you won’t even remember it.”

Lexa clenched her jaw again, and Finn swung at her. Clarke was positive that Lexa could have dodged it or deflected it, but she watched in horror as Lexa let Finn’s fist hit her cheekbone. And as Finn went in for a second swing, Lexa grinned viciously. Finn hesitated for a second and kept going. Lexa dodged his swing and jabbed at his throat. He choked slightly and bent over. Lexa kneed him in the stomach and let him fall to his knees, groaning.

************CONTINUE READING**************** 

Clarke just stared. Lexa had taken down an overly aggressive guy in less than three hits, and now she was quickly leading her away. Lexa didn’t stopped until they got to her apartment and locked the door. As soon as it was locked, Lexa leaned against the door and sunk to the floor. Clarke was by her side immediately.

“Are you okay?” She said softly, caressing the forming bruise on Lexa’s face.

Lexa just nodded, her eyes closed.

“Look at me, baby. I was to check if you have a concussion.”

She whimpered softly and opened her eyes. Clarke grabbed the small flashlight she kept with her at all times and did a quick check for a concussion.

“You should be okay. I’m going to go get you ice. Your cheek is swelling up. Do you have any Tylenol?”

Lexa nodded and pointed toward the bathroom.

“Go sit on the couch, baby. I’ll be right there.”

While Clarke was grabbing Tylenol, water, and a bag of frozen peas (the ice pack wasn’t even cold, and Clarke guessed they had forgotten to put it back until this morning) she heard Lexa plop down on the couch. A couple minutes later, Lexa was curled up on the couch, her head on Clarke’s lap. Clarke was trying to keep both of their minds off of Finn and was blabbering on about her favorite parts of Christmas growing up.

“-and he fell off the room, into this massive mound of snow he managed to pile up from shoveling.”

Lexa laughed. Clarke was smiling fondly, if not a bit sad.

“I miss my dad. He was my favorite person in the whole world. I think he was actually my favorite part of Christmas because he’s why all of my favorite parts of Christmas became a thing.”

Lexa nodded, watching Clarke as she launched into another story about her dad making an ice rink out of the cul-du-sac she grew up in, and every other adult in the neighborhood getting angry because they couldn’t drive down the street for almost two whole months.

“But he was always a hit with the kids on the street. He’s part of why I was popular in school. All the kids loved my dad, and I think they all just wanted to come over and hang out with him. I told him that once, and he said there was no way anyone would want to hang out with an old geezer like him. Which I find ridiculous because he was only forty at the time, so it’s not like he was very old.”

Lexa nodded.

“God, I miss him.”

Lexa sat up and turned so she was facing Clarke. Clarke watched her as she grabbed her dry erase board and started writing in much smaller letter than usual. About five minutes passed before Lexa handed her the board.

_I know how you feel, Clarke. I lost both of my parents very young. My mom didn’t survive when she delivered me and Lincoln. My dad raised us the best he could, but when we were eight years old, the three of us got into a head-on car accident. Dad was driving us to school, and someone who was still drunk from the night before swerved into our lane. He died, and my dad died a few hours later in surgery. Lincoln and I were in the hospital for a week with a couple of broken bones and concussions while people were trying to find someone to take us in. Then they found Anya’s parents. Indra- my aunt who owns all those restaurants- collected us from the hospital, moved the whole family into a bigger house so we all could have our own rooms, and took care of us every day after that. She was my rock. Uncle Gustus was as fun as your dad sounds. He’s probably my favorite person in the world. I don’t get to see him often because he’s a big shot businessman. But they took care of us when Lincoln and I lost our dad, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through._

Clarke carefully read through the story three times before slowly looking up at Lexa, who was playing with her fingers.

“I’m sorry you never got to know your mom.”

Lexa shrugged and took back her board.

_I’ve heard so many stories about her and seen so many pictures that I feel like I know her. She was Gustus’s sister, so I got to hear about her when she was growing up and when she met my dad. Dad always made sure to tell us that he knew my mom loved us when we were growing up. They were the best parents I could have asked for. I could always feel my mom’s love, and I hadn’t even gotten the chance to meet her. And Clarke, I look just like her. Dad would get teary when I did something that she would do because it was like a small her was still there. Gustus would cry if I said something sassy or did something spontaneously because he said it was like having his sister back again._

“That’s what my dad would say. That I looked just like a blonde version of my mom.” Clarke said quietly.

Lexa smiled softly and nodded, having seen a few pictures of her mom in her room.

“Hey, Lexa?”

Lexa met her eyes.

“Would you like to come home with me for Christmas? I have to be at my mom’s house for a few days for Christmas, and usually I make Bellamy and Octavia come with. I have a feeling they’re going to have to be with their own family this year though.”

Clarke could see the shock in Lexa’s eyes, but she nodded nonetheless.

“Are you sure?”

Lexa nodded. _My aunt and uncle are usually out of town for the holidays anyway. I’m sure Lincoln will be with Octavia, and Anya and Raven have been spending Christmas together recently. Plus, I want to meet your mom._

Clarke kissed her on the cheek,” Thank you.”

Lexa pecked her lips and pulled her down for a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry to anyone who had to skip the one part. I promise, there aren't many of those in my writing in general. I don't like upsetting people in general, so there probably won't be anymore.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!
> 
> If you wanna say hi or leave any suggestions for what happens next, come say hi to me on tumblr!
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/awkwardsocialskills


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!! I'm so excited. I'm wearing a rainbow bow tie to work every day this month.
> 
> Anyway, worry not, folks! You will learn why Lexa doesn't really talk soon!
> 
> There's a little tiny bit of smut in this one.
> 
> I don't edit before posting, so this might have a lot wrong with it. I'll edit it later when I have the time, patience, and attention span.

As winter break drew closer, Clarke and Lexa spent more and more time in the library. Clarke was convinced her semester exams were going to kill her, and Lexa was beyond done with the amount of essays and presentations she needed to type up.

It helped that they were able to pawn off Raven and Octavia- and their never ending complaints- on their significant others to study. They were able to get a lot more done without the two of them coming over and complaining about homework and Clarke being mean to them.

Lexa was proofreading her third paper when she heard a commotion coming from the front of the library. She frowned and looked at Clarke. Clarke hadn’t noticed yet. She was too deeply immersed in her anatomy textbook and review packet.

The commotion got closer and the voices began to get more clear. Lexa saw two librarians emerge from somewhere in the aisles and move towards the noise.

Clarke still hadn’t noticed. Lexa watched another severe looking librarian march to the front of the library as the noises got closer still.

Then they came into view.

The Delinquents.

Lexa watched as Jasper and Monty argued with the librarians while Maya smiled sweetly behind them. Murphy was blowing a massive bubble with his gum, popping it loudly, and smacking it around in his mouth before doing it over again. Harper and Monroe we looking around like they were searching for something.

Clarke looked up when Jasper all but shouted “Think of the children!”

“I _am_ thinking of the children, Mr. Jordan.” One of the librarians said.

“Are you really, Sharon? Are you really?”

“ _Murphy!_ ” Monroe gasped.

“Oh god.” Clarke groaned. She glanced at Lexa who was sure she looked as horrified as Clarke felt.

Murphy had blown his biggest bubble yet and sent chunks of it flying onto nearby bookshelves when it popped.

“Maybe we have time to slip away while-”

“Clarke!” Monty waved his hand over his head.

Clarke froze with her books halfway in her bag.

Jasper and Murphy were left arguing with the librarians as everyone else hurried over to Clarke’s table.

“Oh hey, guys.” Clarke put on her most convincing smile. Lexa thought she looked like she was trying to tell someone kindly that she ran over their dog.

“Party tonight. You in?” Monty grinned.

“Ah- sorry, guys. I actually have tons of studying to get done. You know, with finals starting next week?”

“Pshh we have all weekend to study. You can spare a night, right?” Harper laughed.

“I would, but I want to make sure I have all of this down with my internship starting next month.”

“You’re already in the top three percent of our class.”

“And how do you think I got to be that high?”

“Come on, Clarke? Just one night? We never see you anymore.” Monty pouted slightly.

Clarke sighed,” Monty-”

“We have a date.” Lexa blurted, surprising herself.

Everyone went silent.

“I didn’t know you could talk.” Murphy said obnoxiously loud from the back of the group.

“Shut it, Murphy.” Clarke snapped.

“But Clarke, you said you had to study.” Monty said.

“Yeah, well, I thought you’d at least let me study. I didn’t think you would believe me if I told you the truth.”

“Which is going on a date with Lexa?”

“Yes? She’s my girlfriend. Is that so crazy to believe?”

“You spend every Friday together.”

Clarke snatched her bag,” That’s it. I’m leaving. You’re all worse than Raven and Octavia.”

“But Clarke-”

“Save it, Jasper. Come on, Lexa.”

Lexa, who had been packing during the conversation, Sprung to her feet and followed Clarke out of the library. She faintly heard a librarian tell them that they were staying to help the library for the night since they interrupted the studying of many students.

“I’m sorry about them. I don’t understand why they randomly pop up like that.” Clarke muttered.

Lexa slipped her hand into Clarke’s and smiled.

*****

They ended up going on a date that night. Clarke had convinced Lexa that a cheesy movie and milkshake date would be good, so that’s what they did. They went to see the latest Marvel movie and went to a diner right after. They were playing tic-tac-toe and hangman while they drank their milkshakes.

“How did I lose on ‘milkshake’?” Clarke laughed in outrage.

Lexa just grinned and pushed the pen over to her.

Clarke huffed and thought for a moment. Lexa was intrigued when she bit her lip and turned a bit pink as she carefully drew out eight lines with two spaces. Three small words.

Lexa stared at those three words, already knowing what they said. Clarke softly put down the pen and pushed it over to Lexa. Slowly, she picked it up, watched as Clarke bit her lip and steadily turned red. Instead of filling in the words, Lexa wrote out _please look at me_.

Clarke looked into Lexa’s eyes, and Lexa felt her heart swell larger than she thought possible.

“I love you too, Clarke.”

Tears welled up in Clarke’s eyes instantly. She let out a short, shaky breath,” God, I love you.”

Lexa moved so that she was sitting next to Clarke and pulled her into a soft hug. Clarke buried her face in Lexa’s neck. And after a few seconds, she pulled back, pulled Lexa’s chin so she was facing her, and kissed her softly.

This kiss was no different than the countless others they’d shared, but it certainly felt different to them both.

The two of them just sank into their booth, clinging onto each other and sipping on their melted milkshakes. They each got one more for the road and held hands as they strolled back to Lexa’s apartment (Lincoln and Octavia had been camping out in Clarke’s apartment most nights since they had found out about the baby).

When they arrived at Lexa’s apartment, they easily fell into the same pattern they had developed. Clarke went to brush her teeth while Lexa found changed. Then they switched so that Lexa could brush her teeth and Clarke could grab some of the clothes she left at Lexa’s. While Clarke washed her face, Lexa made sure their phones were plugged in and that the blankets were turned down. Since tomorrow was Saturday, neither of them had plans other than studying. No alarms were set, so they were planning on just sitting around the apartment doing more studying.

Lexa was just slipping into bed when Clarke emerged in the doorway. Her breath slowed down when she saw Clarke in just her underwear and a tank top that was just _slightly_ too tight.

“Ready for bed, babe?” Clarke said, just a bit too innocently.

Lexa narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend and got to her feet. Instead of sitting in bed, Clarke walked over to her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around Lexa’s neck.

“What is it, baby?” She all but purred.

Lexa just swooped in for an agonizingly slow kiss. Clarke responded more than eagerly, pushing Lexa down on the bed and straddling her waist. She bent down for a much deeper kiss. Her hands trailed down Lexa’s sides, memorizing every inch. Lexa wiggled impatiently and moaned at her touch. When Clarke lightly scratched up her sides, Lexa flipped them over and hungrily kissed her. Clarke’s breath caught in her throat. Heat was coursing through her body. She _needed_ Lexa.

Lexa slowly pushed Clarke’s shirt higher as she kisses down her jaw and neck, over her collarbone, and right now her stomach. Her kisses slowed the lower she went. By the time Lexa reached her thighs, Clarke thought she was going to combust. Lexa lightly bit the inside of Clarke’s thighs, getting the desired moans. Clarke’s fingers were threaded through her hair. Lexa left a soft kiss in the spots she kissed and slowly made her way back up to Clarke’s lips.

Lexa was just starting to tease her over her underwear when Clarke moaned,” Please, Lexa.”

A sly smirk made its way onto Lexa’s lips as if to ask _what do you need, Clarke?_

“I need you to fuck me. I need you so bad.” Clarke said before grabbing the back of Lexa’s neck and crashing her lips to hers.

Lexa pulled back, desire burning in her eyes.

*****

“Get decent! We’re going out!” Raven screamed as she burst through Lexa’s bedroom door the next morning. There was half a second of a pause before she started screaming and stumbled backwards.

“For fuck’s sake, Raven. Stop doing that!” Anya growled.

“MY EYES.”

Anya sighed in frustration and marched into her cousin’s room.

“I know you two are awake. Get dressed. We’re going to brunch.”

Clarke grumbled from under the blankets she had covered herself with,” You both should just fuck off so we can sleep.”

“Nope. Mama Bear said we have no choice but to go to brunch with her and her baby daddy. So get dressed. Preferably something family friendly.” Raven said. Lexa peaked out from the blankets and saw Raven’s head through the doorway with her hand covering her eyes.

Lexa threw a pillow at her and hid. She knew she hit her target when Raven started swearing again.

Lexa cackled lightly until something hit her hard in the head.

“Stop hurting my girlfriend.” Anya said, dropping the pillow on top of Lexa.

Lexa sat up, making sure the blanket still covered everything, and punched Anya’s arm.

“We have no time for fighting right now. Kill each other later. They need to get dressed.” Raven said.

“Whatever.” Anya stalked away, slamming the door shut behind her.

“How did they even get in here?” Clarke whine.

Lexa glanced at Clarke with a raised eyebrow. Clarke sighed.

“Of course Anya has a key. I’m dumb.”

Lexa just kissed her forehead and got up to get clothes for them both.

Raven insisted on trying to get details out of Clarke and Lexa’s evening. All they told her was that they had a date. She just got frustrated and tried to get more out of them, but they refused to budge. She bothered them nonstop all the way until they got to brunch.

“Why are you yelling, Rae?” Octavia asked when they got to the table.

“Because these two had sex and won’t talk to me.” Raven pouted.

“Maybe it’s because you barged into our bedroom and woke us up this morning.” Clarke grumbled. Lexa’s heart sped up at the words ‘our bedroom’.

Octavia raised an eyebrow,” We’ll get back to the sex thing in a moment. What’s this ‘our bedroom’ business?”

Clarke turned pink,” Um...”

Octavia stilled,” Oh my god.”

“What?” Lincoln panicked.

“You...you two finally said it, haven’t you?” She said, ignoring her boyfriend.

“Said what?” Lincoln asked, still looking a bit alarmed.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business either.” Clarke said defiantly.

“Seriously? You kissed her for the first time and you wouldn’t stop talking for about three days. We had to talk you out of going to see her at the gym and you still didn’t listen. You can stop putting on the brave face and tell us about saying you love each other.”

Lexa blushed and ducked her head.

“Are you _blushing_ , Commander?” Raven grinned.

“This is gold.” Lincoln pulled out his phone.

“What are you doing?” Octavia asked.

“Saving the day my sister admitted to having feelings.”

“She hasn’t admitted anything.”

“But she blushed.”

“In Lexa, that’s as good as screaming.” Anya nodded.

Lexa dropped her head on the table in front of them. Clarke threaded her fingers between Lexa’s and started drawing patterns on the back of her hand.

This was going to be a long brunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any and all mistakes.


	16. Chapter 16

As soon as finals were done, Octavia and Lincoln packed up and went to her family’s house with Bellamy (who still didn’t know).

Raven and Anya were gone for a mini vacation that Raven had been saving for with her money from the garage she worked at. They were flying out to Colorado for a week of skiing before the holidays set in.

Clarke and Lexa, on the other hand, stayed curled up on the couch and started on a binge of The Office. Lexa was in an oversized sweater, fleece pants, and thick socks.

And Clarke. Clarke was-

“How do you not have a onsie? I feel like it’s necessary for everyone to have a onsie at all times.” Clarke said.

Lexa shrugged, still confused as to why her girlfriend was currently dressed as a lion.

“I’m buying you a onsie.” Clarke said, almost threateningly.

With a roll of the eyes, Lexa kissed her girlfriend’s cheek and settled into her side.

Clarke huffed and pulled out her phone.

Lexa frowned and whined. When Clarke glanced at her, Lexa grabbed Clarke’s phone, tossed it on the floor, and dropped her whole body on top of Clarke.

“Hey!”

All she got in response was another huff and a light squeeze as Lexa nuzzled further into Clarke’s neck.

“You’re cute, but you stole my phone for cuddles.”

Lexa turned her head so her pout was visible.

“Aw, my baby.” She kisses Lexa’s bunched up forehead and rn her fingers through her curly hair.

Lexa smiled and went back to cuddling and watching Netflix. Clarke felt her body relax into the couch. Not ten minutes later, Lexa was fast asleep on top of her, and Clarke didn’t have the heart to move her. She just started running her fingers up and down her spine, tracing patterns onto her back, writing out short love notes with her fingers. Lexa just snuggled closer, and Clarke smiled. Lexa fit perfectly around her.

An hour later, Lexa blinked awake.

“Hi there, sunshine. Have a good nap?” Clarke said softly.

Lexa leaned up and kissed her cheek.

“Come on. It’s late, and we’re leaving tomorrow. We should get some rest.”

Lexa whimpered slightly and held on tighter.

“Just to bed, baby. Come on. Go brush your teeth while I fix the bed.”

It took a few minutes of prompting to get her up and moving.

It took even longer to get Clarke out of bed the next morning. She was dreading going home, and no matter how hard Lexa tried, Clarke just kept burying her face in her pillow.

Lexa knew this was coming. Clarke had warned her. So she sat on the edge of the bed and slowly eased Clarke out of bed. And by the time Clarke realized she was sitting up with her eyes open, she knew it was too late to go back to sleep.

“Do we have to?” She whined,” Why can’t we just stay in bed and cuddle?”

Lexa just gave her a good morning kiss and went to go make coffee to get them started.

Hours passed, and they were finally arriving at Clarke’s childhood home. Clarke had her forehead pressed against the window of the car her mom had sent for them. Lexa was staring in awe as they passed snow covered apple orchards and fields of horses. She watched the countryside roll past for about 20 minutes before they turned onto a small road with completely surrounded by trees. Another ten minutes passed before a house came into view.

Lexa tried to keep from gasping. That was a _mansion_. Clarke hadn’t mentioned it was so massive. She had just once said in passing that she grew up in a ‘pretty big house’.

Clarke sighed,” Is it too late to turn back?”

“Come on, Clarke. Your mother misses you.” The driver chuckled.

“Tell me, Billy. Is she at work?” Clarke challenged.

“Your mother is a very important person. You know that. You _also_ know that you’re supposed to call me William.”

“When have I ever called you William?”

“Never, and I blame that on your father.”

Clarke grumbled,” You sound like Mom.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad!”

Lexa caught him wink as he parked the car.

“When can get our own bags, Billy.” Clarke said as she got out of the car.

Billy- _William?_ -scoffed and got out to argue with her. Lexa was left to get out and marvel at the house until a decision was made.

The mansion was four stories tall, and Lexa had no idea why Clarke’s small family ever needed a house that big. So she started counting.

Ten windows on the bottom floor.

Eleven windows on the other three.

Two massive doors for the entrance.

Three chimneys.

Eighteen massive trees in the front yard.

Six streams of water coming off of the main fountain.

Four small fountains around the main fountain.

One car in the driveway. The one she just came out of.

“Ha! I win. Come on, Lex. Billy’s going to join us for dinner after we take our things to my room.” Clarke said victoriously.

Billy rolled his eyes and followed them inside.

Clarke led Lexa up to the second floor and stopped at the second door they saw.

“Just so you know, I haven’t redone this room since before my dad was alive. So it’s extremely outdated.”

Lexa grinned and nodded for her to go inside.

The room was exactly how Lexa imagined it. Pastel colors covered the walls. Paintings and sketches were hanging on the walls and sitting on every surface. There were art supplies all over her desk and on the small tray on her easel.

“It’s a little much.” Clarke muttered.

Lexa giggled, kissed the side of her head and moved further in the room to admire a painting of the sunset over what looked like one of the apple orchards they had passed.

“I always loved to go out and sketch by the apple orchards.” Clarke said softly.

And she spent the next twenty minutes telling Lexa a fact about every drawing and painting in her room. On the last one, Clarke just looked at the picture. A sketch of a man with wrinkled around his eyes.

“This is my dad.” She whispered.

Lexa’s breath caught in her throat momentarily as she drank in every line. She noted that while it was just a drawing, she could see the same mischievous look that Clarke had in his eyes. She could tell that his hair had a slight wave in it, like hers did. She could see Clarke’s nose and her ears. She could see _Clarke_.

“Clarke! Are we eating or what?” Billy called from downstairs.

“Coming, Billy!”

Clarke cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and smiled at her girlfriend,” Ready to go?”

Lexa nodded, a smile on her lips.

Billy ended up making them some simple sandwiches and chips. Clarke happily chatted away with her driver about her time away at school. Lexa was just happily watching them interact.

And then they checked the time.

“You’re mother should be home soon, Clarke.” Billy said softly.

Clarke sighed and looked at Lexa,” I guess it’s time for a tour before the reunion. That was you can find me when I run off after our fight.”

Lexa frowned, but Clarke just got up and followed her to the front door.

“So my parents designed this house we we basically never had to see each other if we didn’t want to,” She started,” This is the main floor, obviously. It’s basically a showroom for guests. There are three bathrooms, two dens, the kitchen, the dining room, a small library, and like five closets. I’m never on this floor unless I’m eating.”

 _Holy shit, this place is massive_ , Lexa thought.

“I’m not going to take you upstairs. I don’t know if my mom has renovated since I generally just stay at school except for winter break. But the fourth floor is supposed to be my dad’s area. It was for tinkering and business meetings when he didn’t feel like going into the office. It was where he would take conference calls because he was important and was working on projects for just about every major city in the world and needed to be in contact almost around the clock.”

Lexa was already overwhelmed and they hadn’t even moved from the entry way.

“The third floor is my mom’s floor. She’s got a bunch of state of the art medical supplies there. A library so she can stay on top of her game, like she never stays on her game. She’s always working. But with all the stuff she has- or had- up there, she could basically run a clinic out of our home.

“The second floor is just bedrooms. Well, my room, my parents’ room, and about eight guest rooms that never get used. I’m never up there either. I just put all those things in my room when I was growing up so I had something to make me feel less alone at night. I spend all of my time out of the house or in the basement.”

Clarke waved her towards a door that was only five feet away from the front door. They walked downstairs as Clarke said,” The basement has a home movie theater, an art studio, a home gym, and a game room. Obviously, I spent all of my time in the art studio, which was my favorite because it’s not just painting and drawing. It’s a music studio too. My dad was big into music and taught me to play the guitar.”

Lexa raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t known that Clarke could play the guitar.

Clarke blushed slightly when she realized that.

“Do you want to hear something? I might be rusty, but I know a few songs.”

Lexa nodded eagerly.

Clarke led her to the art studio and quickly found the old guitar. She took a deep breath and sat down, her fingers hovering over the strings.

The was flung open then, and with the force behind it, Clarke thought Raven had followed them to her house. Instead, she saw her mother standing rigidly in the doorway.

“Clarke.”

“Mom.”

“You’re home.”

“Obviously.”

“Why are you down here?”

“I was showing Lexa around the house.”

“Lexa.”

Clarke’s mother swiveled her eyes to meet Lexa’s for a brief second before scanning her body and narrowing her eyes slightly.

“I didn’t know you were bringing a friend home, Clarke. I don’t have a room ready.”

“You always have a room ready. And I told you I was bringing my _girlfriend_ home for the holidays.”

“Hm. Well, come upstairs for dinner. Paige is making dinner soon.”

“We’ve already eaten.”

“What?”

“We had lunch while you were at work, Mom.”

“You didn’t think to wait?”

“We travelled for hours. We were hungry. You can’t blame us for that.”

“You couldn’t have waited twenty minutes?”

“You mean two hours? We spent ten minutes arguing with Billy, half an hour in my room, an hour eating and catching up with Billy, and now twenty minutes of a tour. So don’t tell me that I should have waited for you to get home before we ate because you _weren’t here_.”

Clarke’s mom clenched her jaw and stomped away without another word. Clarke stormed off in a different direction, delving deeper into the basement. Lexa hurried to keep up with her and found that she had stopped in the home theater.

Instead of individual chairs, there were two massive three-piece couches and four armchairs. Clarke had curled herself up on one of the couches and was lost in a massive blanket. Lexa slowly sat down next to Clarke and softly rested a hand on Clarke’s knee. After about five minutes, Clarke emerged and attached herself to Lexa’s side.

“Want to binge The Office?” Clarke sniffled.

Lexa ran her fingers through Clarke’s hair and kissed her forehead. Clarke took that as a yes and quickly got everything turned on. The two of them sunk down in the couch and let the screen distract them for a few hours, eventually lulling them to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!
> 
> Come say hi on tumblr if you want! @awkwardsocialskills


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Henlo!
> 
> I have returned after my brief hiatus.
> 
> I do not edit until I reread after I post, so sorry for any and all mistakes. They will remain until I find them.
> 
> My boss was being a raging bad word, and I was getting 99% of the blame for anything that went wrong at work.
> 
> Anyway, I also had to make sure I was being consistent in this chapter because things. You'll see.
> 
> ****Also, small warning. Mentions of major depression. Nothing too deep.****
> 
> ENJOY

Clarke moved them to her room a few hours later when she was startled awake from a bad dream. Lexa didn’t really wake up as Clarke led her upstairs, got them changed, and put them to bed. She ended up sleeping fitfully for the rest of the night until she was woken up at eight by Billy.

“Your mother is requesting you eat with her before she leaves for work.” He said, a bit stiff.

“Tell her that she can go f-”

“Clarke.”

She sighed,” We’ll be there in ten minutes, if her highness can wait.”

Billy rolled his eyes,” I’ll let her know. Please try not to be late.”

“Yeah yeah.” Clarke grumbled, turning to wake her girlfriend.

Lexa was already half awake, but Clarke lightly kissed her forehead anyway,” Morning, sleepyhead.”

After a couple kisses and some stretches, the two of them trudged downstairs for breakfast. Clarke found her mom waiting at the dining room table with half a grapefruit, some toast, and two sausage links on her plate. He plate was completely untouched as she read the newspaper.

“Mom.” She said stiffly.

She folded her paper and looked up,” Clarke. Lexa.”

Lexa nodded.

“I’m sorry we weren’t properly introduced. I’m Doctor Abigail Griffin. Please, call me Abby.”

Lexa gave her a tight lipped smile and nodded.

Abby frowned.

“Do you have something to say, mother?” Clarke said, the warning in her voice evident.

“Why have I not heard her say a single word?” Abby asked as if Lexa wasn’t in the room.

“She doesn’t talk that much. She’s a quiet person.” Clarke was grinding her teeth, trying to not make too much of a deal out of her mother’s blatant disregard of politeness.

“Why?”

Clarke clenched her jaw and reached for some toast instead of answering her mother. Lexa sat in her seat, staring down at her empty plate. This wasn’t the first time someone had made her feel bad for not talking, but this was different. This was Clarke’s mom.

“Are you going to answer me or sit there and throw a tantrum like a four year old?” Abby said.

“You know what? I’m not hungry. Are you, Lexa?” Clarke looked at her.

Lexa shook her head and went back to staring down.

“Come on. Let’s get a bit more sleep. I know you slept almost as rough as I did.”

With a nod, Lexa stood up after Clarke and started to hurry from the room.

“Clarke? Get back here. You agreed to breakfast.”

Clarke turned around,” Yeah. Breakfast. Not an interrogation and judgement.”

Abby stared at her for a few seconds,” Sit down, Clarke. I’m just trying to get to know your friend.”

“She’s my girlfriend, Mom. And you’re making me uncomfortable being here, which means you’re probably making _Lexa_ uncomfortable being here. So we’re going to my room. Have a nice shift. See you tomorrow. Or whenever you get back from work.”

“Clarke-”

Clarke pulled Lexa back up to her bedroom and locked the door behind them.

“I’m sorry.” Clarke said so soft that Lexa almost didn’t hear her.

Lexa pulled her into a hug and just held her. They stayed like that for a few minutes. Lexa pulled away and grabbed her dry erase board.

_I think it’s time to tell you why I don’t really talk anymore._

Clarke looked at her cautiously,” Only if you want to. I’m not forcing you to tell me anything that you aren’t ready to tell me yet.”

Lexa smiled,” I know.”

With and smile and a nod from Clarke, Lexa stood up at grabbed a notebook.

_I’m going to write it on paper so you can show it to your mom._

Clarke frowned,” You don’t have to do that, Lex. She doesn’t need to know. It’s none of her business.”

_I want her to know so she understands. I want you to know so you understand too_

With a moment of hesitation, Clarke nodded. She pulled out her phone and got comfortable while Lexa wrote out her story. After ten or so minutes, Lexa softly tapped Clarke’s leg and handed over the notebook.

_I’ve always been a relatively quiet person. I liked to read when I was younger, so I often chose books over people. Because of that, I spoke much less than all of my peers. And I was made fun of for being the quiet bookworm, so that just made me more quiet. Lincoln was always my protector. He was there to scare off all my bullies, but I think that just scared off anyone who might have also wanted to be my friend. So it was just me and him._

_After the accident, I was just so sad. Lincoln was the last physical link I had left to both of our parents. Reading had lost its appeal. I sunk into a pretty deep depression for an eight year old, but I was in the hospital with no parents, a fractured skull, and three broken ribs. I think it was justified at first. When they found Anya’s family, I was just a numb shell of a kid. It almost scared the life out of my Uncle Gustus. He’s just such a happy guy, and here were these two broken twins. One that was bigger than average and constantly on the verge of tears. One was so small and so deep into her brain that she could barely perform the basic necessities of life._

_Anya wasn’t too much of help. She followed me around in true Anya fashion and called me an idiot almost every day because I couldn’t get out of my mind. Indra eventually put me in therapy, which helped a little. I wouldn’t talk, but my therapist just told me to draw what I felt or we would play word association games. She would tell me stories about her kids and some tough times she’d been through. Then she’d tell me to go home and before I came back next week, I should have written in my journal once a day about a good thing that happened. Or I needed to draw a happy outcome of something bad that had happened._

_The point is, therapy got me out of that major depression. I was in middle school when I started talking a little more regularly. Lincoln wasn’t in every single class of mine, so he couldn’t protect me as much. Not that he needed to. Gustus had put all three of us in mixed martial arts classes after Lincoln and I healed from the accident. But we since we had less classes, I had more freedom and started making a couple of friends. Middle school is actually when I realized I was a lesbian._

_A new girl, Costia, started at my school in eighth grade. She was in most of my classes, and we became friends quickly. She was the only one that really brought me out of my shell and made me a chatterbox. We were practically inseparable freshman and sophomore year. Then we started dating the summer before junior year. I told her all of my secrets, and I spent all of my free time with her. She was my first love, and I thought I was going to marry her one day. We were together until the day we graduated._

_I was one of the last ones to be called up to get my diploma, obviously. Costia was one of the first. When she was called up, she wasn’t there. They called her name three times before she stumbled on stage, her robe half zipped and her hair messed up under her hat. I would have thought she was running late if she hadn’t gotten there with me. And if I hadn’t seen the guy sitting in front of me slip into his seat at the same time that she showed up. His friends turned around and started whispering to her, and I just heard him say “we totally banged”. I ended up walking across the stage and almost started crying when I heard Costia cheering for me._

_I confronted her after the ceremony, and she said she had been cheating for the better part of the year. And right after I broke up with her, my phone started blowing up with all these texts from numbers I didn’t know. It turns out they were classmates, and Costia had spilled some of my darkest secrets with them in retaliation of me breaking up with her._

_Since then, I just started talking less. I didn’t talk to others that much really, but I just started to not trust people, and it led to me not talking nearly as much. Now I basically just don’t talk. Lincoln, Anya, and I have figured out our own ways of nonverbal communication so I don’t always need to type out or write down what I’m thinking._

Clarke was very close to tears when she finished reading Lexa’s story.

“Lexa...”

Lexa just shrugged, looking down at the comforter she was playing with.

Clarke leaned forward and kissed the side of her head,” You know I love you, right?”

She nodded.

“You are the strongest person I know, baby. I’m so, so lucky that I’m your girlfriend.”

Lexa smiled and leaned her forehead against Clarke’s,” I love you too.”

A few hours later, they were in the art studio, messing around with some paints. Well, they were painting each other. Clarke had splashed her paint a little too enthusiastically, and Lexa had retaliated with a flick of her brush. They ended up in a full paint war that lasted ten minutes. And when it ended, they were both giggling messes.

“What happened?” Billy almost cried.

“We got a bit...carried away?” Clarke shrugged.

“Are you telling me or asking me?”

“Yes?”

“Clarke! I’m going to be in massive trouble if anyone-”

“Calm down, Billy. It’s washable pain. Lexa and I will clean it up now and go shower.”

“You better clean it up fast.”

“Why don’t you go upstairs and read the newspaper, and in an hour we’ll buy you some ice cream.”

“I’ve already read it, and I’m lactose intolerant.”

“Then read it again, and I already know you’re not. Nice try. Go upstairs and relax. We’ll meet you in the foyer in an hour.”

Billy rolled his eyes,” You’re lucky I love you, kid.”

“Love you too, Billy.”

Lexa looked at Clarke questioningly as Billy left the room. Clarke shrugged,” I’ll explain later.”

Letting it go for now, they started cleaning up the splattered paint. They got distracted a couple times and flicked paint again, but they eventually got all of their mess cleaned up. Clarke then led Lexa upstairs and showed her to a bathroom she could shower in. After Lexa got settled in and started her water, Clarke went to get her own clothes and take a shower.

The warm water felt like what she needed. It felt like it was washing away the morning with her mother. She was able to let her muscles relax and watch a sea of colors melt down the drain. When she washed her hair, she realized the red wasn’t going to come out too easy. After washing it for the third time, she started debating if she was going to just dye her hair red. Or maybe just highlights?

Lexa giggled when she saw the streaks of red still in Clarke’s hair.

“I couldn’t get it out, okay? I might just dye it. It looks kind of nice. Different.” Clarke said.

Lexa nodded, still grinning.

“I’m picking up hair dye on the way home, and we are going to make Octavia come over here and put highlights in my hair.”

With another nod, Lexa followed Clarke down to the entryway. Billy arrived at just the same time as them, a cheeky smile on his face.

“Right on time!” He said.

“Yeah yeah, let’s go. I’ll buy you your favorite ice cream.” Clarke rolled her eyes.

“You don’t even know what my favorite flavor is.”

“Don’t even pretend that it’s changed from Fat Elvis. That’s what it’s been since before I was born.”

Billy laughed,” You can’t just not love Fat Elvis! With a name like that? It’s immediately the best.”

“Sure it is, old man.”

Lexa watched the exchange in confusion. Clarke had been familiar with the driver when he picked them up, but she was getting more and more relaxed around him. Now the conversations seemed like more than what it seemed to be at first.

Clarke saw Lexa’s confused expression.

“Lex, this is my Uncle Billy. He’s my dad’s brother. He’s lived here with us since dad died. We were close when I was younger.”

Lexa wasn’t all that shocked. She had noticed the similarities in appearance between the two. She had seen how similar their senses of humor was. And from the stories Lexa had heard about her dad, she could see the same mischievous appeal her father had with her schoolmates.

Lexa shrugged and nodded. Clarke smiled,” Come on, guys. I want my ice cream.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TA DA!
> 
> LEXA'S STORY!
> 
> Also Jake had a brother!
> 
> Let me know what you thought. I'll try to get the next one out fast, but if my boss is still a raging bad person, it'll probably be awhile cuz I generally don't go on my computer at home.
> 
> If you wanna say hi, I'll be on Tumblr. @awkwardsocialskills


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